Senju Arashi
by Webby117
Summary: What happens when a certain Sannin, apprentice and pig come across a black haired boy in an ordinary street of an ordinary town? Senju Arashi is what happens. Read to find out
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first crossover story so I hope it's alright. If my use of honorifics is wrong then I'd be glad for the correct ones and I'll change my next chapters. Thanks, enjoy and R&R please :)**

Two women walked down an ordinary looking street. One of them wearing a dark grey, sleeveless, gi under a dark green robe. Her blonde hair tied back into two ponytails leaving two bangs to frame her face. On her forehead a violet coloured, rhombus shaped, mark was present. The other had dark brunette hair, black clothes and for some reason carried a small pig in a green jacket. They spoke in Japanese with each other as they walked _"Tsunade-sama, why are we here?"_ The brunette asked looking around. The blonde shook her head 

_"if I knew I would tell you Shizune. I just have the strangest feeling I need to be here" _the blonde, now known as Tsunade, replied with a slight frown. Shizune nodded slowly and they walked in silence.

For ten minutes there was nothing until they heard a shrill voice from a nearby house that was practically identical to every other house of the street. "Get out you little freak. You should've died with my freaky sister" then a door slammed. Tsunade glanced towards Shizune and they silently made their way down the path that lead behind the house and peeked around the corner. Tsunade's eyes narrowed in anger and Shizune covered her mouth in shock. In the back garden stood a small boy, no older then three at the most, dressed in clothes far too big for him. They couldn't tell his skin tone as every inch visible was either black or blue. The boy looked around the garden slowly before sighing to himself and limping over to a small tree that was hidden from the house. The way he moved gingerly and how he held his upper left arm suggested broken bones. What worried the two women most however was that he didn't look to be in pain. As though this were a normal occurrence for him. He sat down in front of the tree and leant back closing his shockingly emerald green eyes.

A moment later however they snapped open again and instantly span around to look directly at the two women suspiciously. "Who are you?" He asked quietly. Tsunade stepped around the corner and, after glancing in through the window to see no one, she approached the boy who made no effort to move away. Whether he could physically move any more she didn't know and didn't plan to find out. "My name is Senju Tsunade" she said in heavily accented English. He seemed to understand though so it wasn't really a problem. "What happened?" She asked crouching in front of him. His eyes dulled and looked away from her "fell down the stairs" he muttered as though the answer had been drilled into him. Tsunade scowled "they beat you didn't they?" She asked. He was silent and she shot a glare over her shoulder. "What's your name?" She asked looking back at him. He shook his head

"I don't know. They just call me freak" he answered. In her head Tsunade was going over several different idea's. All of them ended up with just one question, how did he know they were there? Shaking herself a little she said "well, that's my apprentice Shizune" the boy looked over before raising an eyebrow "why is she holding a pig?" He asked curiosity flooding his voice. Tsunade smiled "he's mine. Tonton is his name" she told him. He blinked several times

"you have a pet pig?" She nodded "emergency bacon sandwich?" He asked with a tiny smirk that she returned. "How old are you?" She asked turning serious again. He blinked several times.

"Three...I think" he added mostly to himself. Tsunade nodded once before making up her mind

"do you want to come with Shizune and me? We'll fix you up then I can teach you a few things...or a lot of things" she added with a grin. He looked confused

"why? Im just a..." he was cut off

"don't say it. Just because they call you that does not make it true. In fact, what kind of person treats a child like this?" She said scowling over her shoulder again "anyway, its your choice" she told him. He nodded once for his acceptance and she smiled "excellent. Now, we'll leave first then I'll heal you up but im afraid im going to have to knock you out. I don't want to cause any more injuries by accident" she told him apologetically. He just nodded again and she did the act before gently picking him up and heading over to Shizune. _"Well Shizune. Guess you have a brother now"_ she said as they walked away. Shizune blinked twice 

_"are you going to adopt him Tsunade-sama?"_ She asked confused. Tsunade paused for a moment in her tracks and looked down at the boy in her arms. It was just a moment later before she smiled and nodded _"yes. He didn't even know his own name. Senju Arashi I think"_ she thought idly as they quite literally disappeared from the spot.

Unknown to the two women that at almost exactly the same time halfway across the world a white haired man dressed in green and red carrying a large scroll at his lower back was looking down at a blonde haired small boy in a hospital bed. He had whisker marks on his cheek and several cuts and bruises. Across from him was an older man in white and red robes. "Jiraiya, this is the third time this month" the older man said quietly.

"I know" the white haired man replied "I should've done this three years ago Hiruzen-sensei. I'll take him. Im his godfather after all. I was a baka to think he would be respected. Gomenasai but I won't be staying in Konoha. Its too dangerous for him" he said bluntly. Hiruzen nodded once

"I understand Jiraiya. Take good care of him. When will you be returning?" He asked. Jiraiya grinned "oh, when the others in his age group graduate. He'll be ready for a team that's for sure" he replied. Hiruzen chuckled

"hai hai, I have no doubt about that Jiraiya. Arigato" he ended with a tiny sigh as they both looked down at the boy in silence.

Two years later found Tsunade, Shizune and Arashi walking through a town. Arashi holding his mothers hand like always and looking around with eyes filled with both intrigue and intelligence. Both of which the women fully expected. Arashi was very intelligent for his age and not only mastered Japanese within a year but became utterly fluent in it. "Arashi" Tsunade started getting his attention "there's something we should talk about" she told him "its your choice but I would like to start training you to be a shinobi" he blinked several times before grinning

"I was wondering when you were going to get to that oka-san" he replied. Her eye twitched as Shizune smirked. "I take that as a hai then?" Tsunade asked with an amused tone to her voice. He nodded "definitely. My oka-san is a legendary Sannin after all. Got a reputation to live up to here" he said cheekily. She raised an eyebrow

"how do you know about that?" She asked. Her answer was a flat expression that she rolled her eyes at "never mind" she muttered playfully as they walked around the corner only to come face to face with the old man with red face paint and a scroll. By his side the blonde haired, whisker cheeked, boy. "Jiraiya?" She asked surprised.

"Hello again Tsunade" he greeted before seeing the raven haired boy at her side "oh? Whose this?" He asked crouching down.

"My son Arashi. Arashi, this is..." the boy cut in

"the self proclaimed super pervert Jiraiya the toad Sannin" he said with a smirk. Jiraiya chuckled as Shizune giggled behind her hand. Tsunade's eye twitched again "I don't know why I bother. You already know everyone" she said playfully.

"Maybe its just fun to see you try?" Arashi suggested grinning. Jiraiya smirked and ruffled his hair standing again. "Funny seeing you here Tsunade" he said looking back to her. She nodded

"hai hai, im guessing that this is Naruto?" She asked looking to the blonde boy who grinned widely

"you bet!" He said loudly. She raised an eyebrow but smiled as both he and Arashi started talking. With Arashi taking the intelligent standpoint and Naruto taking the enthusiastic, but often wrong, side of things. "Are you training him?" Tsunade asked Jiraiya quietly.

"Not yet, I was going to start in a week. You?" She nodded

"just asked him before meeting you. So smart im beginning to think he might be clairvoyant" she said with a smirk. Arashi looked over his shoulder "bless you" he said. Shizune sneezed and Tsunade blinked several times looking between the two "ok" she said slowly "anyway" she started again as Jiraiya chuckled but cut in "they seem to be hitting it off already Tsunade. Why not train them together?" He asked.

"Because you'll turn my son into a pervert" she said flatly. Jiraiya smirked and they heard

"oh ye of little faith" from Arashi who went back to talking with Naruto. Tsunade rolled her eyes again but smiled "ok Jiraiya. You don't corrupt my son and we have a deal. I was planning to return to Konoha when he turned twelve though to be put on a team" Jiraiya nodded

"likewise...Konoha won't know what hit it" he said already proud. Tsunade and Shizune nodded their assent.

* * *

Three years down the line and the two boys could be found utterly exhausted in an open field with both Sannin grinning over at them. The two put them through some extremely tough training and Arashi was willing to bet that they could equal any high level chuunin if they really tried. Naruto just seemed oblivious to his skill level and only aimed to get stronger so he could one day be Hokage. The two of them were almost polar opposites. Naruto was loud, brash and quite stupid at times whereas Arashi was calm, collected and extremely observant. They rivalled each other perfectly and pushed one another onwards. This rivalry seemed to be just what Jiraiya and Tsunade planned to happen. Of course, the two had their separate training as is expected from two different Sannin. Arashi was being trained as a med-nin by both Shizune and his oka-san. He didn't even want to guess what Jiraiya was teaching Naruto but it seemed to work for the boy as they would always come off equal in their fights. Arashi was a whole hell of a lot stronger and a little faster then Naruto but he had an unbelievable stamina and healing factor to aid him when he inevitably got clobbered by Arashi. Naruto knew several high level ninjutsu already as his massive chakra reserves allowed him to use them with relative ease. This however stunted his chakra control quite a lot so he had trouble with more precise jutsu. Arashi's chakra reserves were nothing to sniff at but his control was masterful, as should be expected from a med-nin, so using healing jutsu came easily to him. Arashi himself was fairly certain that his medical skills probably rivalled that of any average med-nin in a hospital already and, despite complaining about the training to annoy his oka-san, he was both extremely happy and uncharacteristically proud that he was being trained by the best med-nin in the world and her apprentice, who he thought of as his Nee-san by that point. Naruto was like his Otouto, being a few months younger, and they were best friends by that point. Arashi had soon learnt his friend had a talent for traps and pranking. He would often get Jiraiya and Shizune but was terrified that Tsunade was going to smack him all the way to Kirigakure if he tried so he left her well alone much to the others amusement.

Arashi forced himself into a sitting position and groaned a little when Naruto copied his actions. "Hey Naruto. I've been working on something in secret. Want to see?" He asked with a rare excited grin. Not that he didn't get excited, it just didn't normally present in such an obvious way. Naruto nodded eagerly so Arashi made a ram seal and focused his chakra. Moments later there was a creaking noise from between them as a small tree started to grow rapidly from the ground. It soon towered over them and branches spread out shielding them from the blazing sun to their relief. "Wow. That's cool" Naruto said looking up at the tree with wide eyes. Arashi grinned then blinked several times as he turned to the adult ninja. All three of which were staring at the tree in utter shock. "What do you suppose is up with them?" He questioned his friend who looked over as well

"no idea. What's up?" He called over. Tsunade approached slowly

"Arashi, how did you do that?" She asked quietly not taking her eyes from the tree as she neared. He shrugged "it just came naturally to me. I've been working with water and earth element chakra for a year now and I wanted to see what happened if I combined them. This is what happened" he said gesturing. Tsunade looked down at him still in shock

"you're a Senju" she said quietly. He raised an eyebrow

"hai hai, Senju Arashi. Your son, remember?" He asked with a smirk as Naruto chuckled. She shook her head "no, I mean you were always a Senju. That's Mokuton. Only the Shodaime Hokage could use it before now. Its a Kekkai Genkai. You must be related to him some way" she reasoned quietly as Shizune and Jiraiya came over.

"Damn gaki. That is cool...come on Naruto, he's not beating us yet" Jiraiya said with a grin as Naruto jumped up suddenly full of energy again. "Yea! Lets go Ero-sennin" he called loudly. Arashi sniggered as Jiraiya's eye twitched slightly. The two went off to train in whatever it is they trained in. Arashi always ended up finding out Naruto's newest jutsu as the blonde liked to showcase them in their monthly spars. The spars were monthly for a reason, to give them chance to improve for the next fight in secret. Arashi had to admit it was an efficient way to do things. Neither of them knew what the other had been practising or attempting so there would always be a surprise in store but it also meant that they learnt the way each other fought perfectly which increased their level of team work. "Well Arashi. We have training to do as well...do you want to keep with the med-nin training or do you want to switch to using Mokuton?" Tsunade asked.

"I'll stick with med-nin. I can work out the Mokuton anyway, to be honest its not like I can be taught how to use it by anyone" he reasoned. She nodded and grinned as they set off again.

* * *

They continued their training for another four years in which the two became easily able to take on several high level jounin at once. Both Arashi and Naruto were a little bummed that they would have to start at genin rank then work their way up but both of them knew better then to argue with Tsunade. In that time Arashi, and Naruto, had learnt that he was the jinchuuriki for the Kyūbi. This didn't bother either of them that much frankly so they didn't talk about it. Sure as hell explained Naruto's accelerated healing and ridiculous levels of chakra and stamina though. He had also been taught several high level jutsu by Jiraiya, including the Rasengan. That had been a shock to Arashi when he used it in their spar. He had been able to block it with a Mokuton jutsu he had finished only the previous day but it was a close thing. On that note, Arashi's Mokuton skill had advanced in leaps and bounds. He didn't really bother with many jutsu but kept the Moku Bunshin no Jutsu as they were incredibly versatile and useful and the Mokuton: Mokujōheki . It created a chakra enriched half dome from wood that protected him from high powered attacks, including the Rasengan, and didn't take that much chakra. His favourite use of the Mokuton though was his ability to, quite literally, turn his arm into wood that he could lengthen and manipulate at ferocious speeds. He even managed to catch Jiraiya once using it and the Sannin had been trying to avoid it. He had managed to expand that particular skill to utilize more then one branch and created them with sharp tips so if he really needed he could just impale someone on them.

The five were walking down the wide dirt road that lead to Konoha's tall wooden gates with Naruto and Arashi out in front excited. Arashi was dressed in normal ninja footwear but he had forest camouflage cargo trousers and a similarly coloured shirt. Over that he had a dark tan jacket. Laying on his chest was a scuffed silver locket. His kunai holster was strapped to his left leg and, instead of the normal pouch, his was twice the size and crossed the back of his waist. It was the size it was to contain several medical items including soldier pills, scrolls containing more advanced field medical supplies and explosive tags in one side and on the other three hundred senbon. He preferred to use senbon over shuriken because they were so much more precise and, although only lethal in just the right places, they were very useful. In fact, he liked them so much he had storage seals tattooed straight onto his palms that held another five hundred each. If he focused enough chakra into the seals he could quite literally unleash a cloud of senbon at his opponent. That was a last resort thing. His hands were mostly covered by a pair of fingerless, armoured, gloves. On the metal plates across the back was the Senju clan symbol which was also present, in black, on the back of his jacket.

Naruto on the other hand was dressed in black and dark orange clothes. Arashi wasn't sure why he liked orange but had long come to terms with his friends oddness. He wore his jacket open to reveal a dark orange shirt that had a blue whirlpool symbol in the centre that represented the Uzumaki in him. He had the standard ninja pouch on the back, and right side, of his waist as well as the kunai holster also on his left leg. He didn't have armoured gloves but his boots did have a strip of metal hidden inside them to give his kicks a little more oomph. His blonde hair as wild as always whereas Arashi's was grown out and tied back in a ponytail that reached mid back. He left two bangs that framed his face similar to his oka-san but he had a red headband on that they hung over. He had taken to wearing that as a tribute to Senju Hashirama with whom he shared a Kekkai Genkai.

After a moment Naruto stretched out and put his hands behind his head as they walked "so, what's the Hokage like?" He asked over his shoulder to the three.

"He was our sensei when we were training. He's very powerful but kind. However he can be strict when he needs to be" Tsunade told them. Arashi smirked a little

"can't wait to see how he handles lug nut here" he said clapping Naruto on the shoulder. Jiraiya grinned "should be fun to see that's for sure" he agreed. Tsunade gave Arashi a stern look

"try not to cause any trouble Arashi" she told him firmly. He smiled innocently, that was always a bad thing "I don't know what you mean oka-san. I never cause trouble" he replied looking forwards again. "Not intentionally anyway" he added smirking at Naruto who grinned back.

"I should mention, he's expecting Naruto but not you Arashi. That'll be a surprise to him" Jiraiya told them. Arashi grinned and Tsunade rolled her eyes "that'll go well" she said with a sigh.

They entered the village with greetings from the guards. Tsunade and Jiraiya lead the way to the Hokage's tower with Arashi and Naruto looking around interestedly. "Oh. Ramen!" Naruto called seeing a stand. He made to go over but Arashi grabbed him by the back of his collar "later Naruto. Kami, you eat so much ramen. Its no wonder you're a short ass" he joked. Naruto was easily four inches shorter then Arashi. Naruto huffed and crossed his arms as Arashi carried him easily. "I get it. You can put me down now" he muttered. Arashi smirked and put him down. "But we are going after we get our teams" he added. Arashi rolled his eyes a little with Tsunade. Shizune dropped back to walk beside them "at last! Some intelligent conversation Shizune-nee-chan" Arashi said in an exaggerated tone. They weren't siblings in real life but she was his sister in everything but blood, just as Naruto was his brother.

They were shown into the Hokage's office where they saw the old man doing what looked like an endless pile of paperwork. "Jiraiya, Tsunade! Its good to see you again" the man said standing to shake their hands. "And you sensei" Tsunade replied. Arashi wasted no time in going over to the portraits of the Hokage's. He hadn't seen a picture of the Shodaime until then and was quite surprised to find that, besides his emerald eyes, he was the spitting image of the man only younger. "Huh" he said mostly to himself.

"Oh? And whose this?" He heard the Hokage asked interested. Arashi turned around to him

"Senju Arashi" he introduced himself shaking the mans hand.

"Senju huh? You do look a lot like Hashirama" he commented idly. Tsunade cleared her throat

"that's not all sensei. Arashi can use Mokuton" the Hokage's eyes bugged out "I should also point out that I adopted him nine years ago. I had no idea of his relation to the Senju before that" she explained. The Sandaime nodded slowly before smiling

"somehow I think you're about to say you want for Arashi to be placed on a team" Tsunade nodded "I don't think I need to test his level, nor Naruto's, to know. The teams selection will be tomorrow. For now" he moved over to his desk and pulled out several forms for officially making them genin. "I hate paperwork" he muttered. Arashi grinned

"ah, now that is yet another use of the Moku Bunshin no Jutsu" he said smugly. The Sandaime looked around at him for a moment before his eyes widened "bunshin...of course! Why didn't I think of that?" He asked himself before making a cross seal with his index and middle fingers "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" he called creating three solid copies of himself that settled to do the paperwork as he sat down in a more comfortable chair. "Would I be right in thinking you have medical experience?" He asked Arashi who nodded

"of course" he said considering how obvious it was. Hiruzen nodded before giving Tsunade a searching look "and the strength?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. Tsunade smirked at him and that was all he got as an answer.

An hour later, and after a picture being taken, the two were given ninja licenses and hitae's. Arashi looked down at his before slipping it around his forehead planning to remove the plate and placing it on his red headband. Naruto put his on around his forehead as well before grinning and wasting no time jumping out the window. Hiruzen raised an eyebrow "energetic isn't he?" He asked with a smile.

"You have no idea" Jiraiya said chuckling.

"Someone should make sure he doesn't get into trouble" Shizune said with a pointed look towards Arashi who rolled his eyes "hai hai Shizune-nee-chan...he's probably at that ramen stand we passed. I'll go find him" he assured her.

"Hold up" Tsunade said. Arashi paused on his way to the window. "Sensei, is the Senju estate still closed up?" She asked. The man nodded "well, we might as well open it up again. Come find me in about two hours Arashi. I'll open the place up for us" she told him. He nodded and waved as he headed to the window "later oka-san. Ero-sennin" he said with a smirk as Jiraiya pouted and he jumped out the window.

Arashi's first port of call was a place to get his hitae plate switched around. He was there for all of twenty minutes before walking out with his red headband back on complete with the plate on it. The shop keeper kept the original fabric which could be used for another hitae. Now he had to find Naruto. Sighing he spiked his chakra three times in quick succession. After a moment there was a replying three chakra spikes to the east which he followed.

A minute later he came across Naruto sat in the ramen booth seemingly on his fourth bowl of the stuff. On one side of him was a pink haired girl in pink clothes and on the other a blonde girl in purple. "Naruto...how do you eat so much?" Arashi asked sitting next to the blonde girl. Naruto grinned at him. "Hi, im Yamanaka Ino" the girl said. Arashi nodded to her

"Senju Arashi" he replied. The pink girls eyes widened

"Senju? Are you related to Senju Hashirama?" She asked in awe.

"Hai hai" he replied casually before looking to the good looking girl waiting for his order. Smiling "one miso pork please" he said to her. She smiled and nodded before setting to work. "So, you are?" He asked the pink haired girl

"oh, Haruno Sakura" she replied. He nodded once

"are you kunoichi?" He asked the two. They nodded and smiled

"team selection is tomorrow. Are you?" The two nodded

"hai, we'll be at the selection as well" Naruto confirmed. Ino frowned slightly

"but, you haven't been to the academy" she said slowly. Arashi smirked

"we got private training" he explained whilst accepting his ramen with thanks to the girl who smiled at him. He took one bite "wow, this place is good" he said with a smile. Naruto nodded his assent as he started on his eighth bowl. "I hope you know I am not paying for yours as well" Arashi pointed out. Naruto looked stricken "that's just mean. You know Ero-sennin keeps taking my money" he whined. Arashi sighed "ok fine. This is the last time though Naruto. I'll end up broke if I keep buying your food" he said with a smirk. Then they both looked up to see Jiraiya sailing over them from the Hokage tower. The two girls looked as well "what was that?" Ino asked.

"Ero-sennin" Naruto explained going back to his food.

"No doubt said something perverted to my oka-san" Arashi added.

They left the stand, and the obvious fan girls, half an hour later after Arashi paid for the ramen. Naruto always paid him back but over time plus Arashi was the opposite of his oka-san. He almost never lost when it came to gambling so he always had plenty of money. He had to hide it from both his oka-san and Jiraiya as they tended to either gamble it away or spend it in a brothel. As they walked through the streets they noticed that Naruto was getting dark looks from some of the villagers that seemed to recognise him. Arashi rolled his eyes "ignorance at its best" he muttered. Naruto nodded "you don't even know what ignorance means Naruto" Arashi joked with the boy who smirked "I get points for trying" he said.

The day passed without much happening. The Senju estate had a few houses available. Tsunade allowed Jiraiya and Naruto one, Shizune another and had one opened for herself and Arashi. They were moderately sized with four bedrooms apiece along with the necessaries. It was all they really needed or wanted frankly. Arashi and Naruto explored the village afterwards a little more in order to map it out a little but they went to bed early excited to have their own teams the next day.

Arashi was the first into the classroom where the chuunin teaching looked around at him before remembering "oh yes. Everyone" he called getting their attention, it had been refocused to Arashi the moment he walked in "this is Senju Arashi. He'll be joining one of the teams" he explained "would you like to take a seat Arashi-san?" He gestured towards some spare seats. Arashi nodded and took one next to a guy with black hair and eyes who looked distinctly disinterested in what was going on around him. His face seemed set in a permanent scowl and Arashi noted that many of the girls in the room were staring at the boy. "Hi" he started. The boy ignored him. Rolling his eyes Arashi saw the clan symbol and decided not to bother trying to talk to him. He knew what had happened to the clan and that made him Uchiha Sasuke. However the Uchiha seemed to rethink his not talking idea and turned to him "how is it you have not been to the academy but you are here for a team?" He asked bluntly. That seemed to get everyone's attention, including the chuunin teacher.

"I, and Naruto, were trained separately outside the village" he explained. Sasuke scowled

"and they let you straight into the teams?" He asked disbelievingly.

"Indeed" was all Arashi said.

"On that note Arashi-san, where is Naruto?" The chuunin asked. Arashi shrugged

"Kami knows. He'll be here sometime" he said with a shrug. The chuunin nodded

"well, I'll read out the teams now. I'll leave it to you to inform Naruto" Arashi nodded and the man started.

Arashi pretty much phased out until the man said "team seven. Uchiha Sasuke" that was what got his attention "Haruno Sakura" the girl squealed happily while Sasuke's already dark expression got heavier. "Ouch, fan girl huh?" Arashi asked the boy who nodded once "try being stern with her. Its like training a dog. You ignore them they get worse for the attention" Arashi pointed out. A smirk crossed Sasuke's face and they listened to the next member "and Uzumaki Naruto". Sasuke turned to Arashi

"this Naruto. Is he strong?" Arashi grinned

"very" was the brief answer

"your jounin instructor is Hatake Kakashi" the chuunin finished with their team just as Naruto walked in scratching his head sheepishly. "Gomenasai...I got sidetracked" he explained. The man nodded "its ok, I just announced your team. You're with Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura" he pointed the two out. Naruto nodded and moved to sit next to Arashi. "Your team been read out yet?" Arashi shook his head

"team eight. Hyūga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino and Senju Arashi" he told them. "Your instructor will be Yūhi Kurenai" he moved onto the next team. Arashi blinked several times before rubbing his chin "four genin on one team? Strange...by the names I would guess at a tracker team" he reasoned before looking around. The Inuzuka and Hyūga were easy to notice with their obvious bloodlines but the Aburame was a little more difficult to find.

A few minutes later the chuunin left the room via shunshin and the students moved around to their teams. Arashi approached the three who would be on his and sat down next to Hinata. "Hey" he said giving a slight wave.

"Hello Arashi-san" Hinata said in a timid voice. Shino just nodded to him but Arashi guessed he was getting a searching, and curious, look from behind the boys sunglasses. Kiba grinned widely at him "im Inuzuka Kiba and this is Akamaru" he said pointing to the white dog on his head that barked. Arashi nodded to them both "good to meet you" he replied. The door opened again and several jounin entered. Most of them took their teams and left straight away but two stayed behind. "Team ten?" A bearded man with a white sash accompanying his standard jounin uniform asked. Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji stood and left. That left an ebony haired woman with red eyes and a strange white, black and red dress that looked vaguely like bandages. She wore an emotionless expression that Arashi recognised as a defence. "Team eight?" She asked. The four stood and she nodded to them.

"Later Naruto" Arashi said with a wave. Naruto returned it as team eight left.


	2. Chapter 2

The team travelled to a training ground where the four genin lined up and Kurenai looked them over with an experienced eye. Arashi was doing the same to her. She looked only six or seven years older then them which spokes volumes for her skill. "My name is Yūhi Kurenai and im your jounin instructor" she started "this is training ground eight. This is where we'll train every day from seven thirty until you drop...if you pass the test" she added. Kiba exclaimed loudly

"test! We already passed the test" he told her. She let out a tiny smirk

"no, you haven't. Normally there is only a sixty six percent pass rate for new genin teams...yes Arashi?" She asked seeing Arashi's disbelieving expression. He raised an eyebrow

"that, is utter rubbish" he stated bluntly. She blinked twice "if that were true there would be older students in the academy and less ninja all together. I think this is just a scare tactic. Either we all pass or we all fail. There is no in between" he said with a smirk. She stared at him for a moment before "who taught you?" He smirked

"my oka-san, Senju Tsunade" Kurenai's eyes widened "oh, and Jiraiya helped" Arashi added thoughtfully. "Well, that is very impressive. Can I assume that you are at least a little competent?" She asked clearly trying to rile him. It would've worked on Naruto but Arashi was far too calm and collected for that. He smirked at her "I do believe we're getting off topic Kurenai-sensei" he replied. She rolled her wine red eyes

"tomorrow morning report here at seven for the test. Thanks to Arashi's little outburst its going to be harder and there will be far less chance of you passing" she said grinning at them evilly before shunshining away. Kiba immediately turned on Arashi "what the hell did you say that for?" He demanded. Arashi shook his head slowly

"its not going to happen Kiba. In this team are three clan heirs with bloodlines and myself. It would overturn the council not to pass you...unless we do terribly. Not likely. As I gather the test will be based around team work. For whatever it is we will need to find a place to make a plan first and not attack straight on. Does that make sense to anyone?" Shino and Hinata nodded. Kiba looked reluctant but nodded as well "good, now. I don't know about you but I want to know these training grounds. It's only two in the afternoon so we have time to explore the area." He reasoned. Shino nodded his agreement and Arashi had an idea "Shino, your bugs. Can they bite?" An eyebrow raised

"hai, but they aren't venomous in any way" he pointed out. Arashi nodded

"good. Whatever the test will be Kurenai-sensei is a genjutsu mistress of great renown. One defence we can try is to have one of your bugs placed on us. If any of us get caught in a genjutsu the bug can bite us to break it" Shino nodded slowly

"that would take an order from me though. What is your plan if she should get me?" Arashi tapped his chin "you're a long range fighter. I think it best that either Kiba or Hinata stay with you. No offence to either of you but my taijutsu is certainly stronger and faster" he told them. Kiba snorted

"I doubt it" in reply Arashi reached forwards and flicked the boy in the forehead sending him flying back ten metres landing with a crash. "As I was saying" Arashi started again ignoring the widened eyes of Hinata and Shino. Kiba shook his head to clear it before getting up and stumbling over "my taijutsu is stronger physically. Plus, other then Hinata, I have the better resistance to genjutsu" he reasoned. Shino raised an eyebrow "how can you be so sure of that?"

"Do you know who Senju Tsunade is? Or for that matter Jiraiya?" All three shook their heads "they are two of the Legendary Sannin. Three of Konoha's most powerful shinobi in history trained by the Sandaime. The Yondaime Hokage was trained by Jiraiya. Does that give you an idea?" He asked with a grin. Shino nodded impressed

"very, how long have you trained with them?"

"seven years" the three looked between each other surprised but obviously came to a silent agreement to let Arashi speak. "We won't be able to make a proper plan until we know the test so I suggest we map the area out...we could even set a few traps now in preparation" he added. They agreed and set off to do just that.

The next morning arrived and found Arashi in the kitchen at half six with some tea. He didn't eat nearly as much as Naruto and could quite easily last a day or two without any food. A period of his training was dedicated to learning how to cope in bad conditions. Tsunade walked in and smirked at him "nervous?" She asked.

"Not even a little" was his answer. She rolled her eyes again but waved him off as he finished his tea and left.

On the way to the training ground he met up with Kiba, Hinata and Shino. "All ready?" He asked them. They nodded "good, I think I managed to annoy her yesterday" he joked. Shino nodded once "i've been meaning to ask Arashi-san. Why is your pouch much larger then normal?" He questioned.

"I've been training as a med-nin for seven years. It contains medicines and supplies" he told them. They nodded and Kiba said "I asked my oka-san about Senju Tsunade yesterday. She's supposed to be the best med-nin in the world" he said. Arashi nodded once and smiled.

They reached the grounds and waited the last fifteen minutes until Kurenai appeared in a swirl of leaves. She seemed to be carrying three cat bells and an alarm clock. "Ok team" she started whilst placing the clock on one of the tree stumps present. "You have until noon to get one of these bells from me" she said holding them into view before tying them to her belt.

"There's only three" Hinata pointed out. Kurenai nodded

"quite, after Arashi somewhat ruined the scare tactic I spoke with the Hokage. He has agreed that the one who does not get the bell will be failed and won't be allowed to become a ninja" she said. Arashi looked supremely unconcerned as did Shino, Hinata looked a little worried while Kiba scowled slightly. Kurenai started the clock "begin" she said. All four genin headed into the forest to a pre-arranged meeting spot that was down wind of the entire training ground and gave Hinata the best vantage point for her Byakugan. "Ok, the test is simpler then I thought" Arashi said as they crouched down. Hinata activated her Byakugan keeping an eye on the woman. "As I see it we can take her out with relative ease. Shino, you and Kiba herd her towards me and I'll take her down. In case she doesn't fall for it Hinata, you stay with Shino. Your Byakugan can't be fooled by genjutsu." He told them. They each nodded "ok, im going to head off. Give me two minutes to get into position. Shino, im going to need one of your female bugs so you can track me. Kiba, make sure you can keep my scent" the two nodded and watched as one of Shino's bugs flew out from his collar landing on Arashi's hitae. "Everyone ready?" They nodded "good, two minutes" he reminded before taking off at a high speed while suppressing his chakra so Kurenai couldn't just follow it.

Kurenai waited patiently. She was already surprised by the fact that Kiba had not just attacked as she thought he would. It seems that Arashi talked with them yesterday. What worried her a little though was that she could feel three of them but Arashi's chakra signature disappeared a few minutes before hand. The fact he was trained by two Sannin probably helped a great deal towards that. A sudden thought crossed her mind distracting her for half a second 'he's cute though'. Shaking her head she refocused and tensed slightly. A black swarm of Shino's insects approached her rapidly on her left side and Kiba was attacking with Akamaru from straight ahead. She couldn't put a genjutsu on insects so she threw a simple one towards Kiba only to be surprised when nothing happened. She had to dodge to the west, her right, to avoid the swarm but when she tried to go south Kiba and Akamaru cut her off forcing her back towards the swarm. Knowing their chakra draining abilities she back tracked to keep some distance while throwing kunai at Kiba to halt his progress. It worked but only a little. The boy, and his dog, started using his family jutsu with a call of "Gatsuuga!" The two black vortex's approached at a rapid speed but stayed on her right. She was being herded. Smiling mentally she dodged the attack and her mind went to trying to figure out where Arashi was. That was cut short when she felt a hand on both of her biceps swiftly followed by a sharp pain in both arms as they went limp against her side. She felt another hand press high on her left hamstring and once more on her right Achilles tendon. The same, slicing, pain and she started to fall as apparently her muscles had been cut removing her ability to stay standing. That must have been Arashi. He wasn't finished though as she saw, out the corner of her eye, that he span around to her side whilst bringing his right leg up delivering an extremely powerful kick to her chest sending her hurtling back thirty feet before hitting the ground rolling and digging up dirt. She felt several of her ribs break from the sheer force and realised, she completely underestimated the young Senju. Because of his attacks she couldn't move and she very much doubted he would get caught in any genjutsu she could use solely from her eyes.

A moment later she saw the Senju in question standing above her with a smirk before taking the bells. His team mates approached and he threw one to each of them leaving himself without one. "Why not keep one for yourself?" Kurenai questioned calmly despite the inability to stand.

"They're my team mates. Im supposed to be looking out for them. Besides, they did most of the work" he said with a shrug. She nodded then frowned

"and what did you do to me?" She asked. He smirked

"Chakura no Mesu. I cut your biceps, hamstring and Achilles tendon. Give me a moment and I'll fix them right up" he said crouching. She nodded and he placed his hands over her right arm first. A slight green glow and sting later and she could move her arm. "You'll want to rest that for a few hours" he said moving onto the next arm and repeating the process.

However when it came to the hamstring, he already fixed the Achilles tendon, he frowned at her "you're going to need to turn over" he said bluntly. She blinked several times

"why? You healed my ankle without needing to" she pointed out. He nodded

"true, but there is less between this side of your ankle and the back then there is this side of your thigh to your hamstring" she nodded before remembering where the cut was made and blushing slightly "can't you get a med-nin?" She asked. He raised an eyebrow

"I am a med-nin. Officially as well" he added. She was still hesitant and he rolled his eyes "this was not just some elaborate plan to grope you Kurenai-sensei. The longer you wait the more painful its going to be to heal. Now, I don't need to remind you that med-nin outranks jounin when it comes to injuries. Turn...wait, how many ribs did I break?" He asked seeing her wince slightly as she shifted. She shrugged "four, maybe five...that was some kick" she said. He glared at her

"when were you planning to tell me this?" He asked. She shrugged and blushed a little more. Sighing he asked "did we pass the test?" She nodded "then can you dismiss these three? It'll mean I can work quicker. Besides, you'll be out of action for another two days with those ribs" he told her. She nodded and looked to the three "you can go for now" they nodded and left.

Arashi looked back to Kurenai "ok. The ribs are first" he said. She blushed even more as he pressed his hands flat against her, somewhat ample, chest. "You know, I usually don't let students touch me like this" she told him.

"Stop talking" he told her. They were interrupted by a woman with dark purple hair, a brown trench coat, orange miniskirt and fishnet body stocking. Arashi noted that there was nothing covering her chest except for the coat. She smirked at the two "well well Kure-chan. I didn't expect this of you" she said cheekily. Kurenai sat upright throwing Arashi's hands off and wincing "its not like that" she said adamantly. Arashi pushed her back down by the shoulder "stay still" he told her replacing his hands. "Seems like it is" the woman joked. Yet again Kurenai sat up and Arashi pinched the bridge of his nose "Kurenai-sensei. Lay down and stay still or I'll restrain you" he told her.

"But..."

"But nothing. I don't care what she says your ribs are broken and I can't heal them with you sitting up. Now lay down" he said firmly. She laid back down with a glare at the woman. Arashi put his hands back on her chest and actually managed to get a little healing done before "so, when was the first date?" From the woman caused Kurenai to shoot back up. Arashi's eye twitched

"ok, that's it" he raised his right hand in a ram seal and two wooden restraints shot up from the ground wrapping themselves around Kurenai's torso. One around her shoulders and the other around her stomach pinning her arms to her sides. They they pulled her straight down onto the ground keeping her steady. The look of surprise on her face was almost worth it. "I warned you" he said putting his hands back over her ribs. The woman laughed "damn Kure-chan. He's good. Don't let him get away" she teased. Arashi cut Kurenai off before she said anything

"not a word Kurenai-sensei or I'll cover your mouth as well. Save any retorts for after i've finished your ribs" she huffed but said nothing.

It took nearly twenty minutes to fix her ribs up during which the woman, who introduced herself as Anko, kept up a nearly endless stream of teasing aimed at Kurenai and Arashi. He wasn't bothered by it in the slightest but it seemed Kurenai was. Especially if the way she blushed the same colour as her eyes was anything to go by. He released the bindings "ok, now you can speak again but you still need to turn over so I can heal your leg" he told her. She grumbled under her breath but did so knowing it was either by choice or Arashi was going to make her. "Out of curiosity. How did you get injured Kure-chan?" Anko asked.

"Arashi" was the answer.

"You got beaten by a genin?" Anko asked grinning.

"A genin trained by two of the Legendary Sannin" Kurenai retorted then jumped slightly as Arashi put his hands above and below the cut hamstring. That meant halfway down her thigh for his right hand and halfway up her backside on the left side. "Kure-chan...he's getting frisky" Anko said with a grin. Kurenai glared over her shoulder at her. "Not everyone is a pervert Anko" she snapped back. Anko ignored her and crouched next to Arashi "so? How does she feel?" She asked. Kurenai blushed heavily and he rolled his eyes "feels like her hamstring was not healed quickly enough so its going to hurt like a bitch when I do heal it. Of course, this could've been avoided if she told me the extend of her injuries to begin with" he scolded the genjutsu mistress who huffed.

"Are you a boob man or an ass man?" Anko continued to question Arashi.

"Why are you here?" Arashi asked her. She smirked

"to cause Kure-chan discomfort and embarrassment. Im doing pretty good so far. I think she likes that" she added with a smirk. Kurenai growled at her and Arashi said

"ok Kurenai-sensei. This is going to hurt" he told her.

"Gee, don't sugar coat it will you?" She said sarcastically. He rolled his eyes before she flinched "agh! Damn it" she yelped.

"Im done. I would suggest going to the hospital to rest but there's nothing else to be done really. Just no strenuous activity for two days due to your ribs. Since you seem not to listen to med-nin no strenuous activity means no roof hopping, sparring, practising any genjutsu and sex" she blushed crimson.

"But, you and the team just passed"

"I'll cover the next couple of days training. I don't want to see you anywhere near the training grounds for two days. Got it?" She nodded and he helped her to her feet. Her hamstring and ankle were healed but it was always best to keep weight off. "I would ask your girlfriend here to take you back but im relatively certain that would violate one of my rules" she blushed even more as Anko smirked "she's not my girlfriend...I don't go that way" Kurenai told him.

"Whatever. Can I trust you to take her back?" He asked Anko who nodded

"sure, little teasing on the way but that'll do me just fine. Come on Kure-chan. You can tell me how soft his hands were" she said to her friend as they left. Arashi rolled his eyes and decided to go check on Naruto's team.

When he arrived however there was no instructor around just the three looking impatient. Naruto glanced around at him "what are you doing here?" He asked confused. Arashi shrugged

"my team already passed" he said casually.

"That was quick" Naruto pointed out. Arashi nodded

"yea, only took a few minutes. I spent the rest of the time healing Kurenai-sensei" Naruto smirked while the other two genin looked confused "how badly did you hurt her?" The blonde asked.

"Broke five ribs, cut her biceps, hamstring and Achilles tendon" he explained. Naruto snorted

"guess she underestimated you" Arashi nodded

"big time. What about you three?"

"Kakashi hasn't even turned up yet. He was three hours late yesterday as well. He told us to meet him here at eight. Im going to beat the snot out of him when he gets here" Naruto said with a scowl. Arashi chuckled "you three want some advice? The test is about how well you work as a team. Do that and you're a shoe in" he told them. Naruto nodded and glanced around

"we might be able to handle that...but I wouldn't count on it" he added seeing the Uchiha's scowl.

Anko supported Kurenai as she hopped through the tree's until they reached the village where she dropped to the ground and they walked through the village. "So, he was pretty good then?" Anko asked. Kurenai nodded "hai, im fairly certain it was his idea to get Shino and Kiba to herd me towards him while keeping Hinata protecting Shino. He used their strengths pretty well. Thing is, im certain he held back when he kicked me" she added. Anko raised an eyebrow

"he broke five ribs and you think he was holding back?" She asked incredulously. Kurenai nodded

"I do. There is no way he's just genin level. He suppressed his chakra perfectly and he was so fast. We were nearly sixty feet from the tree line and he still managed to get the jump on me." She explained then frowned "what I don't understand though is how Kiba wasn't affected by my genjutsu. It was only weak but it didn't even slow him" she mused as they walked into a familiar cafe. At one of the tables were two other women. One with long purple hair and the other brunette with Inuzuka cheek marks. Anko helped Kurenai over and the purple haired women said "what the hell happened to you?" Seeing the dirtied clothes and winces. Anko smirked

"she just got her butt royally whooped by her genin team" she teased. Kurenai shot her a glare

"I'd like to see you take Arashi on and win" she retorted.

"Arashi?" The brunette Inuzuka asked. Kurenai nodded

"hai hai, Senju Arashi. Tsunade's son. He's on my team" she explained. Anko smirked

"managed to cop a feel on his first day" she joked. Kurenai rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath. "What do you mean?" Was the question from both kunoichi.

"Not what you think. He injured me and he's a med-nin so he healed me afterwards. He broke some ribs and cut my hamstring." She explained.

"Oh, not bad then"

"no, but he was trained by two Sannin..." at that point the blonde Sannin herself walked into the cafe and glanced around before seeing Kurenai and walking over. "Oh, Tsunade-sama. Please, join us" the genjutsu mistress said with a smile. Tsunade returned it and sat next to the Inuzuka. She could see the gingerly way Kurenai moved and smirked "you underestimated him didn't you?" She asked rhetorically. Kurenai grimaced and nodded. Then she introduced her friends "these are Uzuki Yugao, Inuzuka Hana and Mitarashi Anko" she said indicating them. They waved and nodded respectfully which Tsunade returned. "You realise that Arashi knew we were watching him and the team yesterday don't you?" She asked Kurenai who blinked twice

"he did?"

"Hai hai, he might not be as good with traps as Naruto is but he can still get Jiraiya if he needs to" she told the woman who nodded slowly

"I guess its a good thing it never went that far then" she admitted. Tsunade smirked

"quite, you'd be in a much worse state if it did. Im guessing that Kakashi is going to seriously regret not turning up on time though" she added thoughtfully.

"Oh? Why?" Hana asked intrigued.

"Because Naruto is not patient...and he was trained by Jiraiya. His skill with traps is good enough to get me even when im trying my best to avoid them." She explained. The four kunoichi looked between each other before Anko asked "whose stronger. Arashi or Naruto?" Tsunade thought about that for a moment "that's a tough call. Whenever they spar it always, and I mean always, ends in a draw. They both have advantages and disadvantages. Though, Arashi does tend to hold back with his Mokuton" she added.

"He can use Mokuton?" Yugao asked in surprise. Kurenai nodded and blushed slightly as Anko said "hai, he used it to hold Kurenai down as he healed her" Tsunade chuckled

"weren't doing as he said were you?" Kurenai said nothing "he's as stubborn as I am Kurenai. Maybe next time just do as he says concerning any injuries. I can honestly say there are only two med-nin in Konoha better skilled then he is. Myself and my apprentice Shizune. You'd do well to listen to him" she assured the woman who nodded once but still blushed. Tsunade raised an eyebrow and looked her over. Using her, somewhat unique, skill to identify injuries at a glance she smirked "you thought my son was just trying to feel you up" she stated more then questioned. Kurenai coughed a little embarrassed "please, he's not that perverted" Tsunade said with mock hurt. Anko raised an eyebrow "that perverted?" She asked with an emphasis. Tsunade nodded

"not as much as most guys but every man thinks about it at some time. I assure you though Kurenai that when it comes to healing he's nothing but professional. Somehow I doubt he even noticed where he was putting his hands" she told the genjutsu mistress who blushed some more but looked mildly relieved. "My ears are burning" came a voice from their side. Yugao, Kurenai and Anko jumped slightly in shock. Hana had smelt him and Tsunade knew his chakra signature perfectly. "Hai hai, join us" Tsunade said indicating the seat next to Anko which he took. "Hows Naruto?" He smirked

"Kakashi is going to be crawling to the hospital if he doesn't take him seriously" he joked. Tsunade smirked with him as Arashi turned to Kurenai "this doesn't look much like an apartment Kurenai-sensei. Did I not say rest?" She had the good decency to look scolded

"Anko brought me here" she said pointing. Arashi gave her a flat expression

"so? Are you a child?" She shook her head "then im sure you won't get lost on the way back" he told her. Tsunade smirked at the woman who rolled her eyes. "You're bossy" she complained. Arashi nodded "yep, now go" he said firmly. Tsunade laughed lightly

"you'd better go Kurenai" the woman slumped slightly but stood stumbling a little. Yugao got up to take her back "arigato" was the response as they left. There was a brief interruption as they heard someone run by yelling "HELP! HE'S CRAZY" and they recognised the copy ninja's voice quickly followed by another recognisable one "GET BACK HERE YOU LAZY PERVERT!" From Naruto. Arashi laughed with his oka-san as Anko and Hana smirked.

After that they talked for a few hours before heading out again. Team seven had passed along with team ten which made three genin teams in their year. Kakashi was found hiding in a dumpster with several bruises, scratches and signs of burning across his clothes. Naruto couldn't have looked any smugger if he tried. Sasuke and Sakura were somewhat shaken by the blonde's strength and the Uchiha pretty much demanded that Naruto teach him. The blonde of course said no to his team mate which caused the Uchiha to out and out hate him.


	3. Chapter 3

**I've been getting positive reviews which is always a plus side. I realise that some of the pairings I'm planning may not be to everyone's taste but they'll be more in the back ground. except Arashi's for obvious reasons. Now, I'll stop waffling so you can read on :)**

The next morning found team eight at their training ground. Kiba smirked at Arashi "so...how was it?" He asked grinning eagerly. Arashi raised an eyebrow

"how was what?" He asked but he could see where this was going.

"Kurenai-sensei...how did she feel?" He asked. Arashi rolled his eyes as Hinata blushed and Shino looked distinctly unbothered by his team mate. "Kiba. You're asking me how Kurenai-sensei felt?" He nodded "when she's stood right behind you?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. Kiba span around and saw Kurenai glaring down at him "uh...hi Kurenai-sensei...I meant" Hinata laughed. Shino and Kiba looked around at her "what is it?" Shino asked in his monotone.

"Its a genjutsu. She isn't there" she explained. They looked at each other then back to Arashi who smirked "ok, you two need to learn how to recognise and dispel genjutsu." He told them. Shino raised an eyebrow "how did you do that without seals?" Arashi shrugged

"its an extremely low level genjutsu so it doesn't really need them. It only worked because Kiba panicked" he explained. Shino nodded

"then how did you get me?" Arashi smirked

"you must've panicked as well...do you want to know?" He asked. Shino stayed quiet "good, because its none of either of your business" Arashi said bluntly. Kiba pouted slightly and the Senju started training them to break out of genjutsu with a little help from Hinata. She could see the chakra flow to their brains and could tell when they got it right.

By the end of the training session, nine hours later, the three were breathing heavily and sweating. After they had learnt how to dispel genjutsu they had gone into an all out fight against Arashi. They lost and he held back a lot but they were quite good. However, Arashi noticed something that needed to be addressed. "Ok, Shino. Kiba, you can go. Hinata, we need to talk" he said. The two nodded and left while Hinata looked confused and slightly worried. Arashi hoisted himself onto one of the tree stumps and gestured for Hinata to take the next one. She did so "is there something wrong Arashi-kun?" She asked. He nodded and stared right at her.

"Your self-confidence sucks" he said bluntly. She looked down at the floor "Hinata, you have a great potential to be a powerful kunoichi but you need to have more confidence in yourself" he carried on. She nodded once but didn't look up. Sighing mentally "Hinata, look at me" he told her firmly. She looked up "from now on, every day, when you leave the Hyūga compound I want you to take a minute. Close your eyes and just leave your problems and concerns at the door. Inside that compound the Hyūga are important and so are you but outside is completely different. You are a ninja Hinata. Out here what matters is to have the strength to protect your friends. Your team mates. If your problems at home distract you from that goal then you leave them at home to be dealt with. Try it, just close your eyes" she did so "take a deep breath" again she did so "good. Now, I want you to sort through any worries you have. If they have to do with the Hyūga elders or your father or similar then push them to one side and forget about them for now. If there are worries concerning your abilities as a kunoichi then that is what is important right now. Those come to the fore front of your mind" she nodded once.

Ten minutes later a slight smile formed on her face. Not a shy timid smile but one that told him she was getting there. She opened her eyes again looking visibly relaxed. Arashi smiled "good. Every day I want you to do this. When you leave the compound you stop being a Hyūga and become Hinata. A kunoichi of Konoha. Think you can do that?" She nodded "excellent. Now, I am certain you have worries about your abilities. Talk to me, I'll see if I can help" she looked a little doubtful but nodded and sighed "most of them are because of my cousin, Neji. He's been hailed as a Jyuuken prodigy. He's so much more powerful then I am. He puts me down every chance he gets" Arashi nodded as she spoke then smiled

"it looks like we have a goal" he said. She raised an eyebrow "your confidence problems seem to stem from Neji. Hinata, I am going to train you personally to beat him" she looked shocked

"but...but he's a prodigy" she said quietly. Arashi shrugged

"you said a Jyuuken prodigy. Im going to help you create a new type of taijutsu that isn't the Jyuuken. I promise you Hinata that when it comes to the fight you two are going to have then you are going to beat him into the ground" she blinked several times but smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "That's better. Now, get some rest and we'll start tomorrow" she grinned and nodded before leaving with a wave. Arashi smiled as she left before calling "how many times do I have to tell you to rest?" Whilst looking to his left. From the tree line Kurenai walked out looking sheepish. "I walked, I just wanted to see how you were doing" she said coming over and hopping up onto another stump. "They're good. A little training and they'll be fantastic." He said. She nodded

"I heard what you said to Hinata. You think you'll be able to do it?" Arashi nodded

"hai, she has real potential but needs to be confident enough to reach it. How are your ribs?" He asked raising an eyebrow. She rubbed her chest "a little sore but other then that fine" she replied. He nodded. "I spoke with the Hokage earlier" Kurenai started "he said that there aren't any other med-nin in your age group. When they start C-rank missions I imagine you'll be moved around a few times" Arashi nodded again

"I guessed as much" he reasoned. Kurenai smiled before raising an eyebrow

"do you know how much teasing I have to put up with because of you?" She asked. He smirked

"they're just jealous. Think I have magic hands. Shizune-nee-chan is always saying how I give the best shoulder rubs" he said absently. Kurenai smirked a little with him before looking sheepish

"about yesterday. I didn't mean to insinuate that you would try and grope me" she said quietly. He shrugged "im a guy you don't know. You're a very good looking woman. Of course you'd be cautious but I can promise you something. When it comes to healing people I am nothing but professional. The thought that I was technically groping you never passed through my mind once. You don't need to be worried about that" he assured her. She blushed slightly but nodded.

"Its so rare to meet a guy not obsessed by sex" she said absently. He smirked

"comes with having my oka-san. If I even thought of trying something perverted she'd smack me all the way to Suna for it" Kurenai laughed melodically as he chuckled lightly and saw the time

"we should get moving Kurenai-sensei. Im sure Anko-san has more teasing ready for you" he said jumping down. She rolled her eyes but nodded "its not just Anko. Hana and Yugao are just as bad. They think I have a crush on you" she said as they started walking. He smirked

"who could blame you?" He said with a fake pompous voice. She shoved his shoulder

"stuck up" she joked. He chuckled

"you have interesting friends Kurenai-sensei" he noted. She nodded in agreement.

It took them forty minutes to walk back to Konoha during which time they just talked about random things whilst getting to know each other. Kurenai had to admit to herself. Arashi was definitely her type. Smart, powerful, respectful, not perverted and he was good looking but the only problem was his age. He was six years younger then she was. She very much doubted he would care for her and would prefer someone his own age. Sighing a little as he headed off with a wave she made her way to her, and her friends, favourite cafe to see the three already there talking as she sat down. "Where did you go to? I thought Arashi said rest" Hana said with a smirk. Kurenai rolled her eyes

"I didn't do anything strenuous...last thing I need is to be scolded by my genin" she muttered playfully. "Your genin huh?" Anko asked with a smirk. Kurenai shook her head a little before sighing "its a shame he isn't older. He's damn near perfect except for his age" she told them. Yugao waved her off "life of a ninja Kurenai. He's old enough to kill in the villages eyes so he's old enough for romance. All joking aside I think you should go for it" she said. Hana nodded and smirked

"if you don't I will. He's a prime catch" she said. Kurenai narrowed her eyes at her friend who smirked some more "well, if you don't want me to then I'd hurry up...either that or Anko is going to take him to hers and we won't see him again for weeks" she said teasing her friend. Anko rolled her eyes but smirked. "You four need to pay better attention to your surroundings" came a voice from behind them. They glanced around to see Tsunade with Shizune and Tonton. They sat down and Tsunade gave Kurenai a searching look that told the genjutsu mistress she heard everything. "You know, Yugao has a point. Ninja lead dangerous lives as you well know. You could wait until he's a little older but there's always the chance the worst happens" she said. Shizune went on

"you should hear him talk about you. He's read the genjutsu scrolls you wrote and they impressed him...that is quite a feat" she said absently. Tsunade nodded her assent. Kurenai looked between them before "this is all going under the assumption he wants to as well" she pointed out. Tsunade smirked "trust me Kurenai. You're his type" she said. Hana raised an eyebrow

"I wouldn't have expected his oka-san to try and set him up" she said with a grin. Tsunade shrugged

"he might be my son but I know he can look after himself...better then most. To be honest I really think that if he really tried he could beat me or Jiraiya in a fight. His Mokuton may not be as strong as the Shodaime's, yet, but it's very powerful" she told them. "Now, its your choice Kurenai but the longer you wait the more likely it is that he's going to ask someone else" Tsunade said to the woman who blushed again.

The next day passed in a blur. Kurenai went to the training grounds in the morning but let Arashi take the training for that day so she could finish the last days rest he told her to get. She noticed how he was paying particular attention to Hinata and that the girl herself seemed a lot more confident then normal. He sent Kiba and Shino off earlier then the day before and kept Hinata back to start work on her new taijutsu. As far as Kurenai as could tell it was a modification on the chakra punch Tsunade had taught him. With Hinata's Byakugan it could be devastating and that made the genjutsu mistress smile. When it came to her and Neji's fight in the future the branch Hyūga was going to be surprised to say the least. Hinata left a few hours later utterly exhausted but smiling widely. Kurenai approached Arashi who stayed back. "She really took your advice seriously" she commented as she neared. He nodded

"hai, and a good thing too. There's a long way to go before her taijutsu is usable in a fight but when its finished she'll be a force to be reckoned with" he said with a grin that Kurenai shared. Then he seemed to remember something "oh yea, my oka-san said you wanted to speak to me about something?" He asked. Kurenai blinked several times before scowling mentally. Tsunade had set her up. Clearing her throat a little she didn't meet his eyes "well, hai. There was something." She started. He waited patiently "you know, your oka-san is quite pushy" Kurenai said stalling. He smirked "you don't know the half of it" he joked. She smiled before

"you know there's a few years between us" he nodded "well, I was thinking that we could go out sometime. Its so rare to find a guy not perverted in this village" she said quickly. He blinked several times "you want to go out with me?" She nodded "sure" he agreed with a smile. She returned it and nodded. "Why don't we go get something to eat...I don't really know the village that well so" he said scratching the back of his head sheepishly. She smiled

"I'll give you the tour" she said as they started walking. He nodded

"arigato" he replied gratefully. "My oka-san set you up didn't she?" He asked after a moment. Kurenai nodded and he smirked "I think its about time Naruto and I pranked her" he said absently. Kurenai grinned

"what do you have in mind?" His smirk made Kurenai wish that it was never aimed towards her.

They spent the next few hours exploring the village before getting something to eat. Neither Kurenai nor Arashi missed her friends spying on her from a distance but decided to pretend they didn't. They talked not only about the village itself but on theories Kurenai had written about genjutsu. Although he wasn't really a genjutsu user Arashi respected all those who could use the art well knowing that a good genjutsu can make or break a mission easily. Kurenai was a jounin at just eighteen which really attested to her skill with genjutsu. When she asked how Kiba wasn't affected by her illusion the other day he told her that Shino planted a bug on him that bit the Inuzuka when the genjutsu was sent thus breaking it. That simple idea impressed Kurenai quite a lot but she agreed that it wouldn't work on more powerful genjutsu.

After the two went their separate ways Arashi went to find Naruto at the Ichiraku ramen stand yet again with Kakashi. "Yo Naruto" Arashi said hopping up next to him. He politely declined something to eat. "Hey Arashi. Have you met Kakashi-sensei?" He asked gesturing to the man with the face mask and hitae over his left eye. "Nope, nice to meet you" he said with a wave. Kakashi returned it but Arashi turned to Naruto "ok, we are going to prank my oka-san" Naruto choked on his ramen and Arashi clapped him on the back subsequently slamming the boy head first into the counter "oops" he said unconcerned. Naruto rubbed his forehead

"you did that on purpose" he muttered "and what the hell do you mean prank Tsunade? She'll kill us" he added. Arashi smirked

"well, it seems that she set Kurenai-sensei up earlier today" he explained absently. Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow "oh? In what way?" He asked interested. Arashi shrugged

"she told me that Kurenai-sensei wanted to talk to me about something. Apparently she and oka-san had a talk yesterday. Admittedly talking with Kurenai-sensei lead to a date but that's besides the point" Kakashi looked surprised whereas Naruto gave him a flat expression

"you want me to help prank your oka-san for getting you a date with the hottest kunoichi in Konoha? The horror" he said sarcastically. Kakashi chuckled and Arashi blinked several times

"stop poking logic shaped holes in my argument" he retorted. Naruto smirked at him

"gomenasai aniki but if you want to prank her you're on your own. Last time I was involved I couldn't move for a week remember?" He reminded Arashi who rolled his eyes

"coward" he said with a smirk. "How are things going on your team anyway?" He asked changing the topic. Arashi shrugged "the Uchiha is stuck up, arrogant and unwilling to listen to others. Sakura is an A grade fan girl whose going to get someone killed and Kakashi-sensei is a lazy pervert who is never on time" he said bluntly

"Hey" Kakashi said from the side but the two ignored him

"what about team eight?" Arashi smiled

"not so bad. Kiba can be a little loud but they know how to work in a team. Hinata has a slight confidence problem but im sorting that out. Training her myself to beat her cousin Neji" he said. Naruto smirked "poor guy doesn't stand a chance" he said. Arashi smirked

"you started missions the other day right?" Naruto nodded then scowled

"stupid D-rank missions. Had to catch some ridiculous cat this morning. It was quite fun to see the Uchiha and Sakura getting scratched by it though" he added with a smirk.

"Sasuke still doesn't like you then?" Naruto shook his head

"no, he needs to learn some humility or he's going to do something stupid and get himself killed" he said with a sigh. Arashi nodded slowly when Kakashi spoke up "the Hokage said you'd be switched around when the teams start C-rank missions". Arashi nodded

"I heard that as well. The only med-nin of our age group. Its only a safety precaution I imagine. Should I ever be placed on team seven I doubt there's many that could beat me and Naruto" he said with a grin that Naruto shared.

After a few more minutes they were joined by Hinata who looked relaxed. "Hey Hinata" Arashi said as she sat next to Kakashi. "Hello Arashi-kun" she replied before ordering. Naruto saw Arashi nod almost imperceptibly towards the girl and smiled "so you're the one aniki is training personally" he said to the girl who smiled and nodded "if you have half the potential he sees in you you'll be one of our year groups most powerful in no time" he said with a grin. She blushed ever so slightly but smiled widely. "Why don't you drop by training ground seven tomorrow and spar with us for a little?" Kakashi suggested. Arashi raised an eyebrow

"depends, Kurenai-sensei will be taking over the training tomorrow now she's recovered and I want to keep up with Hinata's training" he said. Kakashi raised an eyebrow back

"recovered?" Arashi scratched the back of his head sheepishly

"I might have injured her during our test" Hinata smirked slightly

"might have? You broke five ribs, cut her biceps, hamstring and Achilles tendon. I think those count as definite injuries Arashi-kun" she chided. He shrugged

"it would've been worse if I wasn't holding back" he replied absently. She blinked several times

"that was holding back?" He nodded

"Im fairly certain if I had kicked her properly she'd be dead" he said bluntly. Naruto nodded his assent and Hinata paled slightly. Kakashi chuckled nervously. "If I get some time I'll drop by though" the Senju said to Kakashi who nodded once "now though, im going to head off. Later Naruto, Hinata" he said leaving with a wave that they returned.

The morning came and Arashi was woken when Kiba knocked on the window. "Yo Arashi. We're getting a mission today. Get up" he called through. Arashi groaned and saw the time

"damn Kiba. Its five in the morning. What the hell man?" He replied. Kiba smirked at him

"what? We can get a little training in before hand" he pointed out.

"Go bug Shino" Arashi replied before sitting up. Kiba chuckled.

Ten minutes later Arashi was dressed and let Kiba in. The Inuzuka followed him inside with Akamaru on his head as usual. "So, what is it you and Hinata are doing after training?" He asked with a grin. Arashi rolled his eyes as they sat at the table with some tea. "Not what you think. Im helping her train to beat her cousin Neji" he said with a shrug. Kiba nodded slowly

"she's not the most confident girl" he admitted. Arashi nodded

"hopefully this will help" he reasoned. Kiba nodded and grinned again. Tsunade walked in looking distinctly hungover. "Morning oka-san!" Arashi said loudly making her wince

"shush. Not so loud" she mumbled holding her head.

"Why? Too much to drink!" He said just as loudly. She glared at him whilst taking some tea and leaving the room. Kiba smirked with Arashi "come on then. We'll head over to the training ground" the Senju said standing. Kiba nodded and followed him out as Akamaru barked quietly.

Arashi wasn't too surprised when he saw that Shino and Hinata were already at the training grounds when the two arrived. Shino seemed to be practising a family jutsu whereas Hinata was meditating by a tree. Kiba started sparring with Arashi.

Half an hour later and Kurenai appeared in a swirl of leaves and a smile "nice to see my team working hard. Lets go get a mission" she said smiling some more. The four nodded and followed her back through the trees towards the Hokage's tower.

They travelled at Hinata's speed, being the slowest of them, so it took fifteen minutes to reach the tower and head inside. The secretary ushered them up to the mission room, one room over from the Hokage's office, where they saw a small group of people looking through the missions. The Sandaime smiled as they entered "nice to see you up and about again Kurenai" he said with a slight smirk. Kurenai shot a glare towards Arashi who smiled innocently back. "Arigato Hokage-sama...I think" she added. The man chuckled

"it seems that Tora has escaped again Kurenai. Its a D-rank" he said passing over a scroll. Kurenai smirked and inclined her head before leading team eight out.

Twenty minutes later they came back in with Arashi having a twitching eye while holding a brown cat complete with red bow on its ear by the scruff of its neck. "That was the fastest anyone has caught Tora" the Hokage complimented as the large Daimyo's wife took the cat in a massive hug, paid the fee, and left. "Im not sure Tora has had to try and escape from someone like Arashi before" Kurenai responded.

"I already hate the damn thing" he muttered crossing his arms. The Sandaime chuckled

"an initiation of sorts" he said before passing over another scroll. "This is another D-rank...no, its not to catch Tora again" he added. Kurenai nodded and took it.

**I can't remember where I got the 'logic shaped holes' line but I quite liked it so there it is. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

The next few weeks were full of very stupid, and menial, D-rank missions that did nothing more then irritate the team. Even Arashi was getting annoyed by the constant requests for work to be done that anyone who wasn't lazy could do and really didn't need ninja to do. He and Kurenai had gone on five more dates in that time and Hinata's taijutsu was getting there. The style progressed to a stage that could actually be used in battle however she, and Arashi, decided to keep it secret even from team eight just in case it got out. Somehow news of Kurenai and Arashi's dating hadn't gotten out beyond team seven and Kurenai's friends. Team eight was shaping up to be a powerful tracker team. Arashi had the displeasure of meeting Neji not that long after his own D-rank missions started. Team nine had several C-rank missions and he tagged along as a med-nin. Gai and Lee were about the creepiest and weirdest people he had ever met while Tenten practically worshipped his oka-san for being a famous, and powerful, kunoichi. Neji was an arrogant jerk who believed himself better then others. Arashi had not shown any kind of real power in front of him beyond genin level taijutsu. Tenten seemed to realise that he was holding back and it amused her quite a bit to see Neji constantly proclaim himself Arashi's superior. There was good news to the few weeks though. Arashi had discovered the Senju scrolls on Mokuton and started learning some of the jutsu. Most of them were supplementary but undoubtedly useful.

Finally though an outburst from Kiba resulted in team eight getting a C-rank mission. "Thank Kami" Arashi muttered under his breath. Kurenai smirked a little as the Hokage explained

"this C-rank is an escort mission. You will go to Kirigakure and meet with the Mizukage and her bodyguards. The Mizukage has some business to take care of here" Arashi raised an eyebrow

"escorting a Kage is C-rank? Or is it more for appearances then anything else?" He asked. The Hokage chuckled "quite. You have one hour to get everything you require for a week long mission." He passed Kurenai the mission scroll and they bowed before leaving.

Outside the tower Kiba grinned widely "finally! A higher rank mission. Catching that damn cat was so annoying" he exclaimed. Arashi rolled his eyes

"its a C-rank in technicality only Kiba. If anything happens, such as someone attacks, it will be the Mizukage's bodyguards that do the work. Anyone who thinks they're good enough to try and attack a Kage will beyond your level" he told them. Kurenai raised an eyebrow

"their level? What about you?" She asked. He shrugged

"I could hold my own for a while against someone that strong. If it were me and Naruto working together we might be able to win" he added with a grin. Kurenai rolled her eyes

"ok, everyone get their things and meet at the Northern gate in one hour. It'll take two days to travel to Kirigakure" she told them. They nodded and left.

A few hours later found the five person team moving through a forest rapidly with Kiba, Hinata and Shino behind Arashi and Kurenai who was leading the way to Kirigakure. They were talking quietly between each other "should we tell them?" Kurenai asked knowing how good Kiba's hearing was and adjusting. He glanced over his shoulder at the three "don't see why not. Unless you're embarrassed about going out with a twelve year old" he said bluntly. She shook her head

"of course not. Im just afraid that _they'll_ bring up the age difference" she admitted. He nodded once

"well, the decision is yours Kure-chan" he said making her smile. "Although, I think Shino already knows" he added. She raised an eyebrow

"how do you come to that?" She asked. He smirked

"its Shino. He's quiet but observant" he reasoned. She nodded slowly and glanced over her own shoulder at the boy. She decided to tell them when they returned to Konoha after the mission was finished.

* * *

They reached Kirigakure a day and a half later to find the Mizukage and her bodyguards waiting for them. "No rest then" Kiba muttered. The Mizukage was a woman of about twenty by the looks of things. Her long, rust red, hair hung loosely around her shoulders falling down to her thighs. One of her eyes was covered by her hair. She wore blue robes with a fishnet body stocking underneath. The robes actually came to a stop on the underside of her, rather large, breasts and they were covered by the body stocking. Kiba couldn't stop staring at her as she was very good looking. Arashi rolled his eyes and clapped the Inuzuka on the head. He shook his head a little before blushing and looking away. The Mizukage saw this and smiled a little, it definitely looked dangerous and Arashi was glad it wasn't directed towards him. Though, something was bothering him about the woman and the way she carried herself. "Welcome to Kirigakure" she said in a sweet voice. Kurenai, and the team, bowed respectfully. "Arigato Mizukage-sama. Im Yūhi Kurenai and this is my team. Aburame Shino" the boy inclined his head "Hyūga Hinata" she smiled and bowed a little "Inuzuka Kiba, and Akamaru" she introduced as well indicating the dog who barked once. Kiba nodded to the woman still not meeting her, visible, green eye. "And Senju Arashi" Kurenai finished. Arashi bowed a little to her. She was one of the few kunoichi that his oka-san really respected. She bowed her head respectfully to each of the genin "my bodyguards, Chojuro" a man with glasses and a large, bandaged, sword on his back "and Ao" a man with an eye patch and two paper earrings with some kind of seal on them. "Shall we go?" Kurenai asked. The Mizukage raised an eyebrow

"does your team not need some rest Kurenai-san?" She asked. Arashi looked between the three other genin who did seem tired "perhaps that would be best Kurenai-sensei. They aren't used to travelling so far in one" he reasoned. She nodded slowly and smiled at the Mizukage

"if you are sure Mizukage-sama" she said. The woman nodded

"of course. Please, follow me" she said heading back into the village with the team following. Arashi paid very close attention to the woman trying to figure out what was bothering him about her but with her back to him he couldn't really tell.

They were lead to a hotel where the team gratefully got some rest. Kurenai and Arashi didn't really need it but they didn't want to risk getting tired on the way back. It was a room aimed at visiting ninja. It had several rooms with beds just for teams.

* * *

After a nights rest they got up and readied themselves for the trek back to Konoha. Each of them checked their equipment before heading out to meet the Mizukage again and her body guards. Yet again the moment he saw her he had the strange feeling there was something off with her. Shrugging it off mentally they approached. "Did you sleep well?" She asked as they neared. Kurenai nodded "very, arigato Mizukage-sama. Shall we?" She asked. The Kage nodded and the whole group left.

It was a good six hours later and Arashi was on point with Kurenai just behind him and the other genin behind her. The Mizukage was behind them but in front of both of her bodyguards. Arashi looked over his shoulder at her just in time to see her kick off from a branch. His eyes narrowed as he saw her wince almost invisibly and her chest flinched awkwardly. Now he knew what had been bothering him. He came to a sudden stop that the others copied "is there something wrong Arashi-san?" The Mizukage questioned. He gave her a flat expression

"you have at least two broken ribs" he said bluntly. The others looked around at her and she raised an eyebrow "im quite fine Arashi-san" she assured him. His expression didn't change

"take a deep breath" he told her. She raised her eyebrow a little higher but complied and subsequently flinched again. "As I thought. One of your ribs is close to puncturing a lung. Why did you not tell anyone?" He asked. She looked between her bodyguards who wore the same stern expressions and sighed "if they were healed by a med-nin then they would weaken" she said confirming what he thought. "Hai hai, but if they aren't healed by a med-nin they could puncture a lung and you could die" he retorted "we're camping here so I can heal you and we're staying for a day" he told them dropping to the floor. The Konoha team followed straight away while the Mizukage sighed before dropping down as well. "There really isn't any need..." she started.

"I'll be the judge of that Mizukage-sama. Unless you are in fact a licensed med-nin as well" he said with a raised eyebrow. She sighed again "im not but..."

"...but nothing Mizukage-sama. Im not giving you a choice" he interrupted. She frowned

"how did you even notice that I was injured?" She asked. He smirked

"I might not be as good as my oka-san but I can tell most injuries from a glance" he told her. She raised an eyebrow "who is your oka-san?" She questioned with interest as the Konoha team made camp with the bodyguards "Senju Tsunade" he said whilst indicating for her to sit which she did reluctantly. "Tsunade...the Slug princess?" She asked as he checked her over and wincing as he poked one of her ribs, then again on another. "Hai hai, that's the one...I was right. Two ribs. You've had these for at least three days Mizukage-sama. Whilst I admire your dedication to stay strong for your village, that was a very stupid thing to do" he said bluntly. She rolled her eyes

"can you fix them up?" She asked. He nodded

"hai hai, they'll need to be bandaged and you'll have to stay mostly still for several hours and I would prefer it if you didn't do anything strenuous for a week but since we're in the middle of no where that's obviously not possible." He looked to the sky "its not good that its going to rain soon either. The cold will cause problems." He told her. She nodded then looked over at Kurenai

"is there any chance the bandages can be applied by one of the kunoichi of your team?" She asked. He sighed "they know basic first aid Mizukage-sama and this isn't that. So, no. They can't" he said bluntly. She blushed slightly but nodded. "One moment" he said standing and looking around

"tents aren't going to be any use" he said to the group. Ao looked around

"there isn't a great deal of choice" he said. Arashi smirked

"of course there is. I'll handle the shelter, one of you will need to get something more substantial for us to eat" Chojuro nodded and headed into the forest. Arashi made five hand seals, ending on the snake seal, and said "Mokuton: Shichūka no Jutsu". There was a rumbling from the clearing nearby and the group watched as a two storey house quite literally grew out of the ground in front of them. "Wow" the Mizukage said quietly. Arashi grinned

"that's our shelter for the next day. Lets go" he said to the group.

A minute later and they stepped inside the house with their things. Arashi glanced around before nodding "bedrooms are upstairs. There are two large bedrooms. One for the kunoichi and one for the shinobi. Over there is the medic area. Haven't managed to make hot running water though as I don't know any Katon jutsu" he added with a smirk. "Mizukage-sama, in you go" he said pointing to the medic room. She rolled her eyes and went inside. "Ao-san" he said to the man who turned around "in both bedrooms there is an area for a fire to be built made of earth not wood. At the least light one in the kunoichi's room. I would prefer the Mizukage to stay in the warmth while her ribs heal" the man nodded and went out to get some firewood before it rained. Kurenai looked around impressed "you still manage to surprise me" she said after a moment "ok everyone. We'll be here for a day which gives us time to train. Lets put our things in the rooms first though" she added heading up. Arashi went into the medic room.

He saw that the Mizukage was sat patiently waiting for him. "I don't normally let others boss me around" she started. He smirked

"im not like others. I don't care about rank. If someone is injured then that is my priority" he explained moving forwards. She nodded "admirable. Though, I shouldn't expect any less from the son of Tsunade" she said smiling. He nodded

"lay down" he said. She did so "try not to move and don't speak. You'll feel some pain for a while" he told her before placing his hands over the broken ribs, and subsequently her breasts. She blushed slightly as her eyes narrowed. "You get any funny idea's..." she trailed off.

"I thought I said don't speak...and please do not insult me by suggesting I would try anything" he retorted coldly. She said nothing and winced again as he started healing her.

It took almost an hour for him to be satisfied that they were healed. Nodding to himself he removed his hands "sit up" he told her whilst reaching into his pouch for a scroll. She did so and he released one of the, many, storage seals on the scroll releasing a long roll of bandage. "You're going to have to strip to the waist" he told her. She blushed even more. It was only then that Arashi discovered that both her robe and body stocking were one pieces so she was soon sat in only panties. She was crimson as he unravelled the bandage. She kept fidgeting in embarrassment and he sighed "Mizukage-sama. I am a med-nin first and a guy second. You don't have to be embarrassed about anything" he assured her. She nodded slowly

"you say that but I am in fact mostly naked with a man I don't know when I haven't been in this state of dress in front of anyone before" she told him. He nodded slowly

"well, if you would stop fidgeting I could put this bandage on quicker" he told her. She nodded and kept perfectly still.

The next few minutes were filled with awkward gasps and blushes from the woman as he wrapped the bandage around her torso tightly and crossed it over her shoulders. She had to admit though that he had a soft touch. After tying the bandage off he looked it over "too tight?" She shook her head "good, now. As I said, I want you to keep still for a few hours before moving around. I'll check how your ribs are tomorrow before we leave and if they need more time then we'll be staying longer. I'll also have to apply a fresh bandage tomorrow." She nodded and made to put her clothes back on but then winced slightly. "Need a little help?" He asked seriously. She nodded and he helped her get dressed.

After that he supported her "Ao should have a fire going in the kunoichi's room and that's where I want you to stay for now" he told her as they headed out. She nodded

"arigato" she said gratefully. He nodded once

"any time, just do me a favour. Next time you have an injury don't let your pride get in the way and go see a med-nin" he told her. She nodded and smiled at him. He knocked on the door to the kunoichi's room. "You decent?" He called through.

"Hai hai, come in" Kurenai's voice answered. He opened the door and the two went inside. There was indeed a fire in the centre of the room inside an earth made bowl. There were also three rectangular patches of what looked like grass raised up half a foot from the floor. He put the Mizukage down on one of them and she laid down. He nodded to the other two before leaving. Kurenai looked over at the Mizukage "is everything settled Mizukage-sama?" She nodded

"hai, he's a skilled med-nin" she complimented. Kurenai nodded and smiled

"one of the top three in our village. Only behind Tsunade-sama and her apprentice Shizune. Makes him a dangerous opponent to fight against. He managed to disable me in just a second using his knowledge" she told the woman who nodded.

"Impressive. Though, he seemed quite..." Kurenai smiled

"insulted when you questioned his professionalism?" She suggested. The Mizukage nodded slowly and Kurenai smiled again "when it comes to healing people he is nothing but professional Mizukage-sama. If there is anyone you can trust to keep their hands to themselves its Arashi" she said. Hinata nodded in agreement and the Mizukage smiled "but he is very strict when it comes to making his patients do as they're told. Comes from his oka-san I guess" she added with a shrug.

"He sounds dedicated" the Kage said after a moment. Hinata nodded

"hai, he's been training me personally" she told the woman who smiled. There was a knock on the door. "Hai?" Kurenai called over. It opened to reveal Shino who was holding what looked like a tray of food for the three. "Here you are" he said stepping inside. "Arashi wished for me to tell you that you are only to move with help Mizukage-sama. Less strain on your ribs" he told the woman who rolled her eyes a little before making to sit up. "I knew it" came Arashi's voice from the doorway. They turned to see him shooting a glare at the Mizukage who wisely laid back down. "Now, I will give you two choices Mizukage-sama. Either do as I say concerning your injury or I'll keep a Moku Bunshin looking over you until I say otherwise" he said bluntly. Kurenai smirked a little as the Mizukage sighed "fine" she muttered "and, just call me Mei" she added. He nodded

"hai hai Mei-sama. While you eat perhaps Kurenai-sensei can tell you what happened to the last person who ignored what I said" he said walking out. Shino passed the tray to Hinata while Kurenai helped Mei sit up. "I shall see you later for training" the Aburame said before leaving. Mei raised a curious eyebrow towards Kurenai who smirked "ah. Well, one of our shinobi came back with a fairly serious injury to his right arm. Broken in five places. Arashi patched him up and told him he was to stay in the hospital for a week while it healed. The shinobi left that night and Arashi went out and physically dragged him back restraining him with Mokuton bindings" she told the woman who blinked several times.

In the other room Kiba was getting restless. Ao was standing by the door as stoic as Shino was while Arashi checked his scrolls. He had twenty nine bandages left and all his other equipment. Nodding to himself he put the scroll back into his pack and sat back against a wall. "Arashi, can't we go training?" Kiba asked from across the room. Arashi raised an eyebrow and glanced out the window at the, now pouring, rain. "I thought dogs hated the rain" he pointed out. Kiba huffed

"its better then sat around doing nothing" he muttered. Arashi shook his head amused

"learn some patience Kiba. It'll do you good" he said. Kiba huffed again and crossed his arms impatiently. "How is the Mizukage?" Chojuro asked from his place.

"Fine, I'll need to make sure before we leave tomorrow but she should be fine. She should've said to a med-nin before we left though" he said shaking his head.

"She doesn't like to show weakness to her village" Ao said from his place.

"Weakness and injury are two different things" Arashi replied. "How did she even get injured?" He asked looking around. "She likes to spar with the Seven swordsmen" Chojuro told him. Arashi nodded once before shrugging. Ao raised an eyebrow "how is it you can see injuries at just a glance?" He asked. Arashi smirked

"its a skill. One I got from my oka-san. Im no where near as good as she is though. I've seen her diagnose a fractured forearm from across the room. I think she was showing off though" he added with a smirk. Ao nodded slowly "sounds like a useful skill" he reasoned. Arashi nodded and Kiba huffed again. Chojuro looked over at him "what's your problem?" He asked confused. Shino answered "Arashi once bound him to a hospital bed for a week when he refused to stay put so his arm could heal". Chojuro smirked as Arashi smiled.

"It wasn't needed" Kiba said adamantly.

"I'll be the judge of that Kiba" Arashi replied. Kiba started muttering under his breath. Then he smirked and asked Shino "don't you think Arashi and Hinata have been spending a little too much time together for it to just be training?" Shino raised an eyebrow

"are you suggesting they are going out?" He asked in his monotone. Arashi rolled his eyes as Kiba nodded "they aren't" Shino said adamantly.

"How can you be so sure?" Was the Inuzuka's question.

"Because Arashi has been dating Kurenai-sensei for several weeks" he said bluntly. Kiba blinked several times and looked over at Arashi "you have?" He nodded "wasn't expecting that" the canine user said.

Hinata glanced over at Kurenai before asking "Kurenai-sensei...is there something going on between you and Arashi-kun?" Mei looked over interested as well as Kurenai blushed slightly. She raised an eyebrow "there is isn't there?" She asked grinning. Kurenai blushed some more but nodded "hai, a few weeks now. I was planning to tell you after we got back to Konoha" she told Hinata. The Hyūga smiled "i've known for a while. So has Shino for that matter...how Kiba hasn't noticed is beyond me" she added. Kurenai blinked several times

"we weren't that obvious were we?" She asked. Hinata shook her head

"no, but we're the ones who are around you both the most thanks to missions and training. We haven't told anyone though" she assured her instructor who sighed in relief.

"Arigato Hinata" she replied gratefully.

"You know Asuma-sensei has his eye on you don't you Kurenai-sensei?" Hinata questioned. Kurenai scowled a little "no, Asuma has his eye on certain parts of me that im relatively certain Arashi would smack him around for staring at" she said smirking. Mei smirked with her as Hinata laughed lightly. "Out of curiosity, just how strong is Arashi-san?" Mei asked. Kurenai thought about that for a moment "well, I would say he's stronger then me as well as most other jounin but when he works with Naruto they can probably hold their own against a Kage level ninja" she reasoned. Mei was not expecting that and blinked several times in surprise.

Three hours passed before the rain let up and Arashi lead both Shino and Kiba out of the room. He knocked on the girls door "hai?" Kurenai called through.

"Kiba, Shino and I are going out to train. You in Hinata?" Arashi called back.

"Sure, one moment" there was sounds of movement before she opened the door

"I hope you're doing as I told you" Arashi told Mei who smiled innocently at him before the door closed and the four genin moved outside.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful and they got some rest that night before getting up early. Mei was the first up as she had rested for the majority of the previous day but next up was Arashi which was normal. He knocked lightly on the door and Mei opened it leaning on the wall. He gave her a flat expression to which she said "they're asleep still and I didn't want to wake them" she stepped out "ok, I'll let you off this once. I need to check your ribs then put another bandage on" she nodded and let him support her into the medic room where she took her clothes off again and he unravelled the bandage to check.

After a few moments he nodded "good, they're healing nicely. At most only another week of these bandages. I'll drop the, you need support, for now but you start to feel anything from them I need to know...and I meant that" he added firmly. She rolled her eyes a little before shivering

"no offence Arashi-san but can you hurry up with the bandages. Its quite cold in here" she said. He nodded and unsealed a fresh one which he wrapped around her in the same way as before. After a moment Mei said "gomenasai if I insulted you yesterday Arashi-san" in a quiet voice. He raised an eyebrow "if? Mei-sama, I will let many things slide but I won't stand for people thinking the worst of me when im trying to help. I assume you spoke with Kurenai-sensei if you're bringing this up" she nodded "hai, surely you understand it from my point of view. I know im not exactly bad looking and it is exceptionally hard to find a med-nin to heal any injuries I sustain without trying something. It's kind of put me on the defensive" she explained. He shrugged

"I do understand that but perhaps next time you'll find out more about someone before making a judgement? It seems like a silly mistake for a Kage to make" he chided tying the bandage off on the front of her chest "too tight?" He asked. She moved a little to test

"no, its fine. Arigato" she said reaching for her clothes. His eyes narrowed

"one moment" he said reaching for her left arm.

"What?" She asked confused.

"Are you having trouble sleeping?" He asked. She blinked several times

"I suppose a little" she admitted. He nodded slowly

"what is it?" She asked. He sighed  
"you have hand shaped bruises on your upper arms. The ones caused when someone grips too tightly" he told her. She raised an eyebrow

"but, no one has" she told him. He nodded

"that's why I asked. When was the last time you had trouble sleeping?" She thought back.

After a moment "yesterday night, after you came but before we left Kirigakure" she told him. He nodded "do you have a water jug or something in your room?" She raised an eyebrow but nodded

"how do you know that?" She asked.

"Someone is spiking your water. It seems to be something that causes a state similar to sleep walking and someone seems to be taking advantage of you in that state" he told her bluntly. Her eyes widened "but...but i've never, I mean..." she trailed off embarrassed

"you've never consciously had sex?" He asked. She nodded slowly and blushed slightly. "Im afraid this means im going to have to check you if you're sure of that fact" she nodded again "but, it is cold in here" he said before creating a similar bowl like fire place with a Doton jutsu. He grew a couple pieces of wood from the walls and Mei lit them with a fire jutsu. "Ok, do you want me to check or would you rather wait for us to get to Konoha so my oka-san can do it instead? I understand that you might prefer a kunoichi med-nin" he said seriously. She shook her head

"I want to know now. You can do it" she told him before stripping off the only remaining piece of clothing she had and putting it on top of her robes.

Fifteen minutes later Arashi sighed to himself and looked a furiously blushing Mei in the eye. "Before I say anything, is there any chance you broke your hymen on anything?" She shook her head "masturbating?" He asked. She blushed even more and shook her head again "gomenasai but I had to ask. In that case I think my original theory is correct. Someone is using a drug to have sex with you" her eyes narrowed and she seethed in anger whilst sitting up. "Luckily whoever it is isn't a total idiot and used protection so there's nothing wrong" he assured her. She nodded once

"may I get dressed?" He nodded and she started to get dressed again.

"If you wish Mei-sama..."

"Just Mei. I must thank you for this Arashi-san. If you hadn't seen the bruises I may never have learnt of this. I owe you a great deal" she told him seriously. He nodded

"Mei, I would like to take a sample of your blood as it still has the drug in it. That way I can make an antidote or a vaccine against it so the next time it happens you can happily beat the snot out of whoever is doing it" he told her. She grinned evilly and nodded offering her arm to him. He drew a different scroll out, one for medical equipment, and unsealed a vial along with a needle for drawing blood.

A minute later and he had a vial full which he sealed into an empty storage seal he had for just such a case. "Arigato. I'll get to work on that as soon as I get back to Konoha for you" she nodded and stood after straightening out her clothes "arigato Arashi. I assume that none of this will get out?" He shook his head "no. Patient, med-nin confidentiality" he assured her. She nodded before looking embarrassed again "was there anything else?" He raised an eyebrow "any signs of...penetration somewhere else?" She reiterated now doing a brilliant tomato impression. He nodded once and she growled deadly insults under her breath.

After a long moment she took a calming breath "arigato again for your help Arashi. I will make sure to mention to the Hokage how helpful you have been to myself" she told him. He nodded but smiled weakly "just doing my job Mei" he assured her packing his equipment and scrolls away while putting out the fire. "Will I be able to travel today?" She asked now firmly assuring herself that whatever his medical opinion she was going to agree with it. "Hai but tell me if you feel any discomfort at all" he told her. She nodded and they left the room.

Arashi headed over to a small room off to the side and she heard him use a low powered Suiton jutsu. 'Probably washing his hands' she thought to herself as she waited for him. As she did though the others came down. "Is everything ok Mizukage-sama?" Chojuro asked. He had always been able to tell her mood from the slightest change in her expression and knew she was seriously angry about something. "No Chojuro, but I shall settle it myself in due time" she said with a bite of anger in her voice that chilled those around. "Whats wrong?" Ao asked confused.

"That, is for myself and Arashi to know only Ao. I will say that he helped me a great deal" she told him. The Konoha shinobi glanced between each other as Arashi came back out and stood with them. "Ok, before we set of Mei I want you to eat something" she nodded and the group headed outside.

An hour later and they were on the move again. Kurenai and Arashi at the back with the genin and Mei between them and Ao and Chojuro. "Arashi...what's going on?" Kurenai asked quietly. Mei glanced over her shoulder having heard her. "None of your business Kurenai-sensei" was the blunt reply. She nodded having got all the information she needed from that. It was something to do with Mei's health and he won't reveal that to anyone. "Hinata and Shino know about us" she said changing the subject. He nodded "so does Kiba, now anyway" he added.

"Hinata said he didn't" she replied.

"Kiba thought there was something between Hinata and me so Shino put him right. He doesn't say much but he gets right to the point when he does" he said with a smirk that Kurenai shared.

**About the medical stuff...I really haven't got a clue what you'd really do for broken ribs having never needed to find out so I just made it up. There is a point to it later in the story though. For anyone who may think it was a hell of a jump from bruised arms to what happened it's due to his own observational skills, intelligence and past experiences (which will be explained later in the story) and he was in 'med-nin' mode so all serious. Hope you enjoyed :)  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the delay, been a busy couple of weeks. Have a longer chapter to make up for it :)**

They ran for the next two days with only five hours of rest, and another half hour for Arashi to redo Mei's bandages, when the Mizukage sped up to run next to Arashi when they saw the gates of Konoha. "Arashi, when we arrive I want to speak with the Hokage, Tsunade-sama and you in private" he nodded and they slowed to a walk.

As they neared they saw team seven with a man carrying a sake bottle. They were obviously going on a mission and by the looks of it it was an escort meaning a C-rank mission. Kakashi looked over "ah! There you are Arashi-kun" he said in his creepy voice. Arashi grumbled under his breath. "We were given a C-rank mission and the Hokage wants you to go with us. We can delay departure..." he was cut off.

"No, I have some important work to get done first. Where are you heading?" He asked as they met up. Kakashi blinked several times before answering "the Wave country. We're taking the west main road all the way up. Will you be able to catch us up?" He asked seriously. Arashi thought for a moment "what I need to do may take some time...wait, I have an idea" he made three hand seals "Moku Bunshin no Jutsu" several branch like protrusions extended to his left and formed a bunshin of him. "Go with them". The bunshin nodded and fell into step with team seven who were staring at him in shock along with the man, with the exception of Naruto who already knew of that skill. "Ok Kakashi-sensei. I'll be able to catch up and track you so long as my clone is with you" he said. Kakashi nodded and the team moved off again at a civilian walking pace. Mei raised an eyebrow "that was quite impressive Arashi" she said as they started walking towards Konoha again. He nodded "arigato. A useful jutsu that one" he said with a smile.

In the Hokage's office the group waited to be dismissed. The Sandaime smiled at them "mission completed. Well done, you are on a weeks stand down. Arashi, will you be able to catch up to team seven?" He asked.

"Later perhaps Hokage-sama. I have something to do first and it is very important" he said as the rest of his team filed out. The Hokage nodded and Mei spoke up "I would like to speak with you, Tsunade-sama and Arashi in private Hokage-sama" she said. The man obviously heard the urgent tone as he nodded "of course, ANBU" he called looking to his left. Four ANBU appeared from various places surprising no one. "Leave us but Neko, go and tell Tsunade-sama that her presence is required in my office immediately" the cat masked ANBU bowed and all four left. Mei looked to Chojuro and Ao "that means you as well im afraid" she said. They blinked twice but bowed and left as well. "Might I ask what this pertains to?" The Hokage asked as they sat down.

"I shall explain when Tsunade-sama arrives" was the answer.

They only had to wait two minutes as Tsunade walked in wearing a slightly confused expression. She saw Arashi sat with the two Kage's and rolled her eyes "what did you do?" She asked resigned. He smirked "always think the worst don't you oka-san?" He replied. She shook her head a little before smiling as Mei approached her and shook her hand "it is good to meet you in person Tsunade-sama. Arashi speaks very highly of you" she commented. Tsunade smirked

"I should hope so" she said grinning. Mei laughed a little before gesturing to a seat which the med-nin took. Then the Mizukage turned serious. "I must thank you Tsunade-sama because your training allowed Arashi to uncover a very unnerving, and hateful, crime being committed" she started. Both the Sannin and the Hokage looked confused and Mei sighed "as you can see I am currently bandaged" she indicated to her normally bare shoulders that showed the bandages. Tsunade nodded

"broken ribs right?" Mei blinked twice and Arashi said

"told you" Tsunade smirked a little but Mei went on

"quite, Arashi pointed them out a few hours into our travels. He outright refused to let us continue until he healed them" she said with a smile. Tsunade nodded then frowned

"why did you wait so many hours Arashi? You know it gets worse over time" he nodded

"I know, but im not as skilled as you. I could tell something was wrong but I wasn't sure what until I saw Mei wince as we were travelling" Tsunade nodded "besides, she was silly enough to not get checked out for three days after sparring with some of the seven swordsman" both med-nin present were sending glares at Mei who coughed a little. The Hokage was smirking slightly "anyway" Mei started "he fixed my ribs and applied a bandage. You should be proud of him Tsunade-sama. It takes an awful lot to make me do as im told regarding my health and Arashi had me walking around with help for a day" Tsunade smirked "though, the next day, and after he changed my bandages, he saw several bruises on my arms. Bruises that suggested someone had been holding me too hard" she said. Tsunade's eyes narrowed already seeing where this was going "as I told him I have never...participated in that kind of activity" the Mizukage said sidestepping around using the word 'sex' in her description. "Because of this Arashi found that I had been, and several occasions before, raped after a drug had been used on me" Tsunade's eyes widened as did the Hokage's. "As per Arashi's suggestion I gave him some blood so that he might be able to make an antidote or vaccine against the drug so that I can catch whoever did this to me" she told them. The Hokage nodded

"of course Mizukage-sama. Extremely good work Arashi." Tsunade nodded her assent. Mei nodded and smiled "that is why I wish to offer you a reward Arashi. You may ask anything of me and I shall do the best within my power to see it done" she said inclining her head respectfully towards him. He blinked several times "there's really no need Mei..." he tried but came up short when she stood

"Arashi, in my eyes what has happened to me is something I would wish on no woman. If it weren't for you this may have continued and possibly never have been discovered. Please, make your request" she said firmly. He glanced towards his oka-san and the Hokage who nodded once. What would he ask for? The look in her eyes suggested she thought he would ask something from her personally. A thought flashed through his mind "in Kirigakure, and the surrounding area's, there is a rare herb that is exceptionally useful against most poisons. Konoha does not have this herb and suffers greatly for this. A small stock of these herbs would be very beneficial" he said to the woman who blinked several times but smiled

"then I shall see to it that you get them" she assured him. Tsunade smiled proudly at him

"you'll have to get the details on the herb from my oka-san" he added. Mei nodded and he stood "is Shizune-nee-chan at the hospital?" He asked Tsunade who nodded "I'll ask for her help to make an antidote or vaccine but I won't tell her why" he reassured the Mizukage who nodded gratefully "arigato" she said. He smiled and she kissed him on the cheek before he left with a wave. Sitting down again Mei looked to Tsunade "he really is something special isn't he?" She nodded. "Do you think he realises I was offering myself to him?" Tsunade smirked as the Hokage's nose bled slightly. "He knew Mizukage-sama but my Arashi isn't like that. Somehow I think you could've been stood there butt naked and he still would've asked for the herbs instead. Its just in his nature to help people, and he's very good at it" she explained. Mei nodded and smiled.

It was almost thirteen hours later when Mei was approached in her hotel room by a tired looking Arashi. "Have you not been to sleep?" She asked surprised. He had been awake for thirty four hours flat, and for fifteen of those he had been running. "No, I'll get a few hours later. Here" he passed over a syringe with a light yellow liquid inside "that is a vaccine against the drug. I would suggest not taking it until you return to Kirigakure. It'll last for a week. Shizune-nee-chan is making up two more doses just in case and she'll bring them round soon. I didn't tell her Mei but she knows what the drug compound is and what its for so I imagine she's worked it out. She won't say anything about it however" he assured her. She nodded

"I seem to say this a lot to you Arashi but arigato yet again. Now, please go and get some sleep. You look exhausted" he nodded and left with a goodnight and a wave that she returned.

He woke up nine hours later and quickly showered, dressed and re-equipped his scrolls placing them back in his pouch. Team seven was quite a distance away but only about eleven hours of running. Although that was eleven hours of flat out running for him. If he was a normal genin that would be nearly two days worth. Thanking his lucky stars that Tsunade adopted him for the millionth time in his life he made sure he was ready before heading out grabbing something to eat on the way out.

When he reached the gate he saw that the Hokage, his oka-san, Shizune and Mei were waiting along with Kurenai and team eight. "Are you sure you're ok to go?" The Hokage questioned. He nodded

"sure, I should catch them up later tonight. I hope you realise that just because it isn't me you still have to get those bandages changed every day" he added to Mei who smiled

"hai hai, Tsunade-sama agreed to do it in your stead" she told him. He nodded

"good, I should get booking" he said. Kurenai moved forwards and surprised only the Hokage when she kissed him before he headed out. "When did that happen?" The old man asked confused.

"A few weeks ago now" Kurenai replied absently. He nodded slowly before shrugging and heading off. Mei and Kurenai started walking through Konoha "how did he take that request?" Kurenai asked. Mei shook her head "im now certain he knew I was offering myself but he stilled turned me down in favour of securing some rare herbs for Konoha. Im getting quite jealous of you Kurenai." She added. Kurenai smiled

"he does seem oddly perfect doesn't he" she said absently. Mei nodded and Kurenai smirked "who knows, maybe I'll share him" she teased the Mizukage who blushed slightly but smiled back "I think I would like that" Kurenai grinned at her.

As Arashi ran he sneezed randomly but shrugged it off. His oka-san often said that if that happened it meant someone was talking about him. He didn't believe in that kind of omen so dismissed the idea straight away.

He travelled flat out before reaching what looked like a wood cabin. He sensed several chakra signatures inside but what really proved to him that it was team seven was the fact his Moku bunshin was in there with them. He was quite tired by then and knocked twice. "Coming" came a female voice. The door opened to reveal a pretty brunette who blinked several times "aren't you in the living room?" She asked surprised. He shook his head

"that's a Bunshin. Im the real one. Is team seven here?" She nodded and let him in "arigato" he said walking into the living room. Something instantly screamed to him that something happened to them on the way. Kakashi was slumped in a chair talking with the team with effort lacing his voice. "Ah, there you are Arashi-kun" he said wearily. The Moku Bunshin got up and Arashi put his hand on its back absorbing all the information and memories of what had happened as he dispelled it.

Moments later he frowned "Zabuza huh?" He said to himself before sitting down. He sighed "Kakashi-sensei, why didn't you let Naruto help? You know that you could've beaten him before that hunter-nin arrived if you had" he scolded. Kakashi chuckled while scratching the back of his head sheepishly "I figured that if he got away we wouldn't have revealed anything too important" he reasoned. Arashi rolled his eyes

"brilliant idea, and now you're suffering from chakra exhaustion. Go and get some rest. I'll take over until you're better" he assured the man who nodded and got to his feet stumbling slightly. Naruto supported him and helped him upstairs. Sasuke glared at Arashi "why do you get to take charge and not me?" He demanded.

"Because im a med-nin Sasuke. That makes me a higher rank when the jounin isn't present. Plus I, and Naruto, have the longest training and are the strongest of us. Now, from what I saw from my Bunshin Zabuza was put into a death like state through the neck. He'll be out of action for a week" he said. Sakura huffed

"we know this. Kakashi-sensei told us" Arashi nodded

"good, then we'll spend this week training." Naruto returned and sat down "Naruto and I will be assisting you two. For now however get some rest. We'll be up early" he told them. They reluctantly agreed and went upstairs. "Naruto, you know the deal" he nodded and headed outside. The woman, that Arashi now knew was called Tsunami, looked confused "why did he go out?"

"To be on watch. Zabuza was knocked out and there isn't a great deal to be done to speed recovery of a death like state. Its possible the hunter-nin would try and take out who they perceived to be the strongest, Kakashi, within the week. Naruto is more then enough to stay on watch. I would've gone first but i've been running flat out for eleven hours. I need some rest first" he said standing. She nodded and waved as he went upstairs to the shared room with Sasuke and Kakashi. The Uchiha scowled at him as he entered but said nothing.

The next day found Arashi, Sasuke and Sakura by some trees. Naruto was getting a couple hours rest before coming out as well. "Ok you two. What you're going to learn is to climb trees" he said looking between them. Sasuke scowled whereas Sakura asked "why is climbing trees going to help?" In response he walked straight to a tree, up it then across a branch hanging upside down looking down at them. "This will teach you more precise chakra control" he dropped and flipped around to land "focus chakra to the soles of your feet. Not too much or you'll be blown off the tree and not too little as you won't stick. Its best to start off running up then slowing to a walk in order to master it. Use a kunai to mark the height of your last attempt then try and beat it" he said. The two chose their trees and Arashi was not that surprised when Sakura ran straight up to the highest branch smiling widely. Sasuke scowled as he only managed a few feet before dropping down. "How is it Sakura can do this so easily?" He demanded.

"Because Sakura only has a little chakra and as such it is easier to control properly. All it'll take is practise Sasuke. Keep going, you too Sakura. You can run now try walking" she nodded and dropped back down to start again.

The week passed swiftly and both genin mastered tree, and water, walking in that time. Kakashi had recovered and agreed that Naruto and Arashi should help him fight Zabuza and Haku, the hunter-nin. Arashi made the Moku bunshin again and sent it with Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto. Naruto would do the normal three spikes of chakra if there was something going on.

There had been a brief distraction in the shape of some thugs with katana's trying to take Tsunami or Inari, her son, but Arashi had swiftly disposed of them before feeling three chakra spikes. He told the two to go to the other villagers before heading off towards the bridge.

When he arrived there was a thick, chakra enriched, fog covering everything. Only his honed senses could pick up the chakra signatures on the bridge. His clone was fighting with Kakashi against Zabuza while Naruto and Sasuke fought Haku. Sakura was defending Tazuna. Decided to help Kakashi first with the biggest threat he focused on Zabuza's location and suppressed his chakra to hide his approach. His bunshin could sense him nearby and usefully herded the man towards him. The real Arashi saw Zabuza back closer to him dodging away from several senbon. He didn't know of the Mokuton yet. Drawing his fist back Arashi threw a punch forwards releasing his chakra. Zabuza tensed and span around in time to catch the punch with the flat of his huge blade. The mans eyes widened upon feeling the enormous strength behind the punch. It wasn't one of just muscle power, even though that would've been enough to kill the man easily on a solid hit, but a chakra enhanced punch that could destroy buildings if used just right. A huge dent was smacked into the blade and Zabuza was launched down the bridge with a heavy thud. "Kakashi, that must have broken some ribs" he called to the man as he sped forwards to catch Zabuza. His bunshin got behind the man and threw several dozen senbon at vital places meaning Zabuza had to dodge. He had a choice, the real Arashi or Kakashi. The man obviously thought Arashi just got a lucky hit and darted towards him. Arashi smirked and ducked under the sword swipe planting his knee into Zabuza's gut hard causing the man to cough up blood, which stained the bandages around the lower half of his face and neck, then followed it up with a swift elbow to the back of the neck slamming him into the bridge hard enough to crater it. He kicked the sword away and Kakashi leapt forwards with a Raiton jutsu that he plunged through the prone Zabuza's back destroying the mans heart killing him instantly. The thick mist dispersed after its caster was killed and the three saw a strange dome made of ice. Inside it were Sasuke and Naruto. The Moku bunshin was dispelled back into Arashi's palm and he ran forward with Kakashi. "Don't go inside Kakashi-sensei...and cover that Sharingan. The last thing we need is you collapsing from chakra exhaustion again" the man nodded and did so. "How are we going to help without going inside. A Katon jutsu won't harm this ice" he reasoned. Arashi nodded before smirking "you're forgetting who you're with Kakashi-sensei. Stand back" he said cocking a fist. Haku's voice rang out

"you can't break my ice mirrors with strength" he said.

"You want to bet on that?" Arashi replied before throwing the hardest, chakra imbued, punch he could at the mirror in front of him. It shattered into tiny shards and Haku gasped "how?" He demanded. Arashi ignored him in favour of getting the two inside to come out to him. "Give it up Haku. Zabuza is dead. You have no one to be a tool to any more" Naruto told the boy who came to a sudden stop in one of the mirrors. "Dead? No, he can't be dead" he said desperation clear in his voice. Arashi pointed to the corpse "he is. If you don't stop then the same will happen to you" he said clearly. There was a pause before the mirrors melted and Haku appeared by Zabuza's side. He took it and disappeared again. Arashi sighed before walking over and picking up the, now heavily damaged, sword. "We'll need to give this to Mei. Proof that he's dead so the real hunter-nin don't continue and waste their time" he said to Kakashi who nodded in agreement.

"Nice timing by the way. I was running out of chakra" he said with an eye smile. Arashi rolled his eyes and saw that Sasuke had finally activated his Sharingan. "I hope you realise that copying a team mates jutsu is against Konoha law" he warned the Uchiha who scowled and deactivated his eyes. There was another interruption as a fat, balding, man wearing a suit walked onto the bridge with about thirty goons. "So kind of you to kill him for me. I wasn't going to pay him anyway. Now, we just need to take care of you" the man said with a slimy grin as his thugs started forwards. Arashi's right hand snapped from his pouch forwards and a brief moment later the man collapsed backwards with blood pouring from his eyes. The two senbon had travelled straight through his eyes into his brain killing him instantly. "Do you really want to try?" Arashi asked the thugs with a smirk. They looked between each other before one shouted "lets loot the village and get out of here". That was met with agreement and they turned back to the village only to find themselves faced by armed villagers that outnumbered them four to one.

After the thugs had been taken care of Tazuna thanked the Konoha ninja. They volunteered to stay and help build the bridge but Arashi had a better idea. "Where's the design?" He asked. Tazuna blinked twice before producing a long scroll that he unrolled. Arashi looked it over before grinning to himself. Kakashi chuckled with Naruto as they saw what was going to happen. A ram symbol later and a burst of chakra and the bridge was complete with the use of Mokuton. Tazuna, and the villagers, stared at Arashi in shock as he waved casually.

A day later and they were back in Konoha. Arashi's guess had been correct as he saw that Mei had returned to Kirigakure. After the situation had been explained to the Hokage he told Arashi of a B-rank mission. It was to gather supplies from Kirigakure and bring them back to Konoha. He would be going alone and could deliver the sword at the same time. Thanking the Hokage he set off again for Kirigakure. Kurenai gave him another kiss and passed him a scroll that she said he was to give to Mei. He didn't understand what it was about but had no intention of prying. He set off again.

Two days of almost flat out running he reached Kirigakure's gates and greeted the chuunin on guard. "How can I help?" He asked with a smile.

"I'd like to speak with the Mizukage. I have proof of the death of a Kiri missing-nin and it has to be presented to her" he explained to the chuunin who nodded

"of course, the Kage tower is in the centre of the village. Tallest one, you can't miss it. Tell the secretary what you told me and she'll send you up" Arashi nodded his thanks and walked through the village.

Upon entering the tower he repeated his case to the secretary who did indeed send him straight up so he knocked on the door. "Enter" came Mei's voice. He pushed the door open and looked inside. Chojuro was stood nearby and waved as he came in. Mei smiled at him "hello again Arashi. I assumed you would be the one to pick up the herbs" she said standing and moving around her desk to kiss him on the cheek. "Hi Mei. Actually, I came for a couple of reasons. One is the herbs but another is this" he hefted the large sword around to show her. The emerald eye widened in shock

"that's Zabuza's sword...you killed him?" She asked. He shook his head

"it was a team effort between me and Kakashi-sensei" he explained. She nodded and ran a hand over the large dent "what caused this?" She asked quietly. Arashi chuckled

"that was me. I hit it" he said. Her eye snapped up to look at him intently

"you're telling me that you are strong enough to do this to this sword?" She asked surprised. He nodded "hai hai, oh. Before I forget" he dug Kurenai's scroll out of his pocket and passed it over "from Kurenai" he told her. She nodded with a strange smile. Then he glanced towards Chojuro before saying quietly "did you catch him?" She nodded

"Chojuro knows...and hai, it was my old secretary. He got a hell of a shock when he tried it the day I came back. Your vaccine worked perfectly" she praised. He nodded

"anything I can do to help" he assured her as they sat down on a comfy sofa. Mei nodded and smiled "im forever in your debt for that Arashi" she said before opening Kurenai's scroll and reading it through.

A few minutes later she had the strange smile on her face again as she rolled the scroll up. "Chojuro, would you give us some privacy for a minute?" The man nodded and left. Mei looked Arashi over "this scroll was Kurenai giving me permission" she said. Arashi raised an eyebrow

"permission? To do what?" He asked confused. She smiled and leant forwards pushing him down onto the sofa "this" she said kissing him. He blinked several times as she let him go with a smile.

"But...but, wait...im confused" he muttered. She smirked and nodded

"hai, Kurenai agreed that we could share. Since you'll be in Konoha a lot and barely in Kirigakure I better get my fill now. Come with me" she said with authority as she stood. He blinked several times before following her out of the office and down the hall to another door which she opened to reveal a bedroom. Arashi suddenly became very nervous as he was pushed inside and the door shut behind them. "Mei...what exactly is..." he got no further as she put a finger over his mouth. The desperate look in her eye worried him "ever since I learnt of what was happening Arashi i've felt dirty. I've tried everything, i've showered, admitted what happened to another med-nin but I still feel unclean. The one time I felt even close to clean again was when I was around you Arashi. I need you to help cleanse me. Please, I need this" she said quietly. He eyed her for a moment

"are you sure?" She nodded so he agreed.

* * *

Four hours later a red faced, sweating and panting couple laid down on the bed with Mei laying on Arashi's chest wearing a satisfied smile. "Arigato Arashi. I feel better now" she told him "but now im exhausted so im going to get some rest" she said cuddling a little closer to him. He smiled and put a hand over her shoulder protectively. She smiled some more and soon he could hear the deep breathing of a sleeping person issuing from her. Shaking his head a little he too went to sleep.

He woke the next morning to Mei kissing him. It was definitely his best wake up call to date. He returned it and she said "I don't want you to go but you really should be heading back to Konoha. Promise me you'll write" she told him sternly. He nodded and smiled

"not a problem" he assured her.

Twenty minutes later, after they both showered and dressed, they walked back into Mei's office to see a smirking Chojuro "not a word" the Mizukage warned playfully.

"I wasn't going to say anything Mizukage-sama" he replied in an innocent voice. She rolled her eyes before pulling a scroll from her desk. "There are two crates of herbs sealed in here. Once again I thank you for your work" she said handing it over. He nodded and smiled

"any time Mei" he said with a respectful head inclination. She kissed him lightly on the lips before "Kurenai is a lucky woman" she said letting him go. He chuckled

"Im a lucky guy" he responded as he left with a wave. Mei sat on the edge of her desk with a slight sigh. "He is far too easy to love" she said mostly to herself.

Arashi grinned to himself as he sped through a forest the next day. He had gotten plenty of rest and the genin team that was trailing him from Kumogakure needed some serious training. Their jounin however was quite skilled and he was impressed. They must've caught wind that a single genin would be transporting very rare herbs between the villages. To have some fun he kept his speed down to genin level.

Sure enough though, when he reached a clearing, the jounin appeared in front of him and the genin around him. He didn't pay any attention to them and the jounin smirked. She was a blonde woman about six years older then him with green eyes. Her long hair tied back in a pony tail that was wrapped in bandages. "Ok, hand over the herbs" she said holding her hand out. He smiled innocently "herbs? Im sure I don't know what you mean...?" He trailed off for her name.

"Nii Yugito and don't play dumb. We know that you're transporting herbs from Kirigakure to Konohagakure. Those are exceedingly rare and we want them. Hand them over. You're out numbered" she told him firmly. He glanced around at the genin readying their poses

"huh, well. I'll give you this, they aren't bad but they need more training...and they have no chance against me" he said confidently whilst looking back to the jounin who smirked

"little arrogant aren't you?" She said. He smirked

"ok, if you're so sure of them then let them attack by themselves. A genin team should not always have to rely on their jounin to bail them out" he challenged. She nodded and straight away her genin attacked.

He had a fun twenty minutes easily dodging the attacks from the genin. They utilised taijutsu, genjutsu and ninjutsu pretty well but their chakra management sucked and their actual jutsu's weren't that strong. Their stamina also left something to be desired. Yugito looked less then impressed with her team. "Hey, don't blame it on them. You just had no idea who you're messing with" he said "bad intel is hardly your, or their, fault" he said consolingly. She glared at him and motioned for the genin to move away. She took her own stance and he smirked "oh? Going to take me out and take the herbs for yourself are you?" He asked taking his own stance. She nodded but paused when blue chakra started pulsing around his hands. "This jutsu is called Chakura no Mesu" her eyes narrowed "I see you've heard of it. Then why don't you explain to your genin?" He suggested. She hesitated but did so

"those scalpels can cause injuries through the skin. They slice through muscle easily. Do not let him hit you with them in any way. Especially where there are vital organs because you will be dead if he so much as twitches his hand" she explained. The genin paled

"don't worry. I have no intention of killing any of you but I am going to have to put you down if you continue this folly" he said to Yugito who growled and shot forwards so fast her genin couldn't track her. Obviously she expected the same of Arashi but he not only followed her but out paced her in his own dash forwards. His hands shot under her strike slicing her biceps and triceps of both arms followed by her right hamstring. She stumbled to the ground unable to lift her arms. Her look of shock was quite amusing to Arashi. "Did you not wonder why they sent a single genin?" He questioned. Then he sighed "im a med-nin and I don't like the idea of leaving you in the care of your genin team like this. I have in no way shown my true strengths here Yugito-san so I shall offer you this. I will heal your injuries so long as you call off this mission" he offered to her.

For several minutes she seemed to consider the course of action before she surprised Arashi by lashing out with her fist catching his chin and causing him to have to back flip away to put some distance between them. She got back to her feet with a feral grin. He blinked several times. The only person that ever recovered from a chakra scalpel attack that quickly was Naruto and that was because of the Kyūbi...wait, Kyūbi? He smirked "ah, so that's how it is. Which one?" He asked the jounin who frowned "which one what?" She asked.

"Ichibi, Nibi, Sanbi..." he clarified. Her eyes widened

"you figured out im a jinchuuriki from a single punch?" She asked in surprise. He nodded

"hai hai, I spar with another jinchuuriki often. He recovers as fast as you do to the chakra scalpel" he explained briefly. She nodded slowly before smirking

"then you know how dangerous it is to face us. Just give in so I don't have to hurt you" she said arrogantly.

"You didn't answer me. Which one?" He questioned again. She raised an eyebrow

"the Nibi" she told him. He nodded

"Nibi...oh, the Neko" he said realising. She nodded as well. "Impressive...but not good enough im afraid. I can see that im not likely to get away with beating you down in some way so that's what I'll have to do im afraid kitty" he teased. She growled at him

"don't call me that!" She yelled rushing forwards again. He ducked and weaved under her strikes while blocking several as well. He had yet to throw his own punches knowing it would unbalance her if he just defended for now.

A minute later she darted back a little "you're not bad for a genin" she complimented. He smiled

"arigato...you're not bad for a jounin" he replied. She rolled her eyes "but im afraid im going to have to fight back now. What i've learnt from fighting a jinchuuriki is that I don't need to pull my punches that much so this should be fun" he rushed forwards as fast as he could surprising the jounin once again. She barely managed to cross her arms in front of the heavy blow he threw at her. It connected with her forearms with enough force to snap the bones and send her crashing through the thick trunks of several trees in her path. Her genin stared at him wide eyed as she groaned and got to her feet slowly. "Ow" she muttered "how the hell?" She asked looking through the holes she made in the trees as she passed. He grinned at her "and that wasn't a full punch...why are you crying?" He asked as tears rolled down the woman's cheek.

"I can't go back to Kumo a failure. They already hate me for being a jinchuuriki, if they hear I lost to a genin they'll use me as a toy for the shinobi" she explained. Now that he looked he did see hateful glares from her genin. "Even though the Raikage wants to help me he can't do anything as the council wants me dead" she told him walking closer but submissively. He kept his guard up though. "I hate being a helping soul" he muttered whilst sighing. "Take me to Kumogakure and I'll speak with the Raikage" he told her. She blinked several times but nodded. This was going to be a long week.

It took almost four days to travel to Kumogakure from their position but upon their arrival Arashi was accosted by a chuunin. "Halt! What does a Konoha shinobi have to do here?" He demanded.

"I wish to speak with the Raikage" he said confidently before seeing the other chuunin trying to cop a feel of Yugito. "If you don't stop that im going to break your neck" he threatened while releasing a high level killing intent to make the man stop and pale. "Better" he said rescinding it before the genin passed out. "Raikage-sama" Yugito said bowing. Coming towards them was a tall, extremely muscled, man with blonde hair and a white robe. Beside him was a slightly smaller man with the same dark skin tone and blonde hair. He had ox horns tattooed onto his left cheek and seven swords on his back. "Yugito, who is this?" The Raikage demanded.

"Senju Arashi Raikage-sama" she said respectfully. The two men looked around at Arashi curiously. "Oh? And what business do you have with Kumogakure?" He asked. Arashi gave him a flat expression "I have heard that the way your villagers, and ninja" he added with a dark glare towards the chuunin who tried to feel up Yugito "treat jinchuuriki" he ended. The Raikage sighed and nodded "let us go to my office. Yugito, you come with us but your team is dismissed" he said to the genin who left quickly leaving the group of four to walk. The smaller man dropped back beside Arashi "names Kirabi yo!" He introduced holding his fist out. Arashi raised an eyebrow before bumping fists with the man. "Good to meet you Kirabi. You're related?" He gestured to the Raikage "hai hai, my bro" Kirabi told him. "And my cousin" he added indicating Yugito who waved.

They entered the Raikage's office a few minutes later and the large man turned back to Arashi "Yugito is right im afraid. The way our village treats her is not well to say the least. Frankly, I can't stand it but no matter what I try I can't get the villagers to treat her better" he said. Arashi nodded slowly "why not transfer her to Konoha then? Its within your power as Kage and out of the councils hand as it is solely a ninja matter" he reasoned. The Raikage nodded slowly

"I had thought of that but then Konoha would have a much greater military power" he said slowly "plus Yugito is family" he added. Arashi nodded

"and you would have your family living in fear of being used as a toy?" He asked bluntly. The man glared at him "never" he growled

"then transferring Yugito to Konoha makes sense. It would not only improve political ties between the villages but it would also mean she would be safe. I will not say that Konoha is a perfect haven for jinchuuriki but it is better then what i've seen of your village already, no offence meant" he added respectfully. The Raikage waved him off

"I understand your statement. I suppose the decision is ultimately up to you Yugito" he said turning to the woman who blinked several times.

"You say you spar with a jinchuuriki a lot?" She asked Arashi who nodded "which one?" She asked curiously. "The Kyūbi" he said earning shocked expressions.

"Is he, or she, treated well in Konoha?" She asked. Arashi shrugged

"he's treated a little like an outcast but generally accepted by anyone with half a brain to realise that the Kyūbi being sealed in him is not his fault nor within his power to change without releasing the thing" he explained. She nodded once before frowning

"how strong are you?" She asked. He smirked

"lets put it this way, if we had fought and gone all out I still would've won...and I am not being arrogant. I can beat the Kyūbi jinchuuriki if I tried. We were both trained by two of the Legendary Sannin" he told them. The Raikage whistled impressed

"if Yugito does accept this promise me something. That you will look after her to the best of your abilities" the man said. Arashi nodded

"of course" he assured the man who nodded and looked back to Yugito.

For several minutes there was silence until she nodded slowly "fine, I'll go" she replied. The Raikage smiled "arigato. I'll get the paperwork done while you go pack, Kirabi. Go with her to make sure nothing happens" the man nodded and they left. Arashi ran a hand through his hair and the Raikage smirked "busy huh?" The genin let out a single chuckle

"I haven't seen my bed in over two weeks. Im over due back at Konoha by three days and now I'll have to explain why im with a strange woman to my girlfriend...that'll go well" he joked as the Raikage smirked at him.

**Before anyone says about the interaction between Mei and Arashi I feel I should mention that, although I'm no psychologist, I do know that there are some cases where rape victims do feel this way. As far as I know it's rare but it does happen. Also, I should mention that this isn't really a harem fic but it's likely that things between Mei and Arashi will continue. Yugito won't be getting with Arashi. **

**I feel I should also address the fights and the idea that some of you may believe Arashi is over powered. For one, remember that it took Sakura only two and a half years under Tsunade's training before she was said to have surpassed Tsunade as a med-nin and kunoichi by Elder Chiyo, if I recall correctly anyway, so having trained for seven years with both Tsunade and Jiraiya is it that surprising he's so strong? Plus, the two fights in this chapter were against opponents who severely underestimated him due to his rank. Remember, Deception is a ninja's greatest tool. Arashi utilizes this as best he can. **

**Finally, I know it might have been a little too subtle but I did say that Arashi had his own perverted side, just not much of one, in an earlier chapter. Seven years training and travelling with Jiraiya would make just about anyone perverted, even if only slightly. **

**I hope that addresses any problems and questions anyone might have but I'm sure there's something I've missed and I'll do my best to explain my reasoning when I can. Thanks, hope you liked the chapter and please, Review :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Previously.

_For several minutes there was silence until she nodded slowly "fine, I'll go" she replied. The Raikage smiled "arigato. I'll get the paperwork done while you go pack, Kirabi. Go with her to make sure nothing happens" the man nodded and they left. Arashi ran a hand through his hair and the Raikage smirked "busy huh?" The genin let out a single chuckle_

_"I haven't seen my bed in over two weeks. Im over due back at Konoha by three days and now I'll have to explain why im with a strange woman to my girlfriend...that'll go well" he joked as the Raikage smirked at him._

And now._  
_

So this was how Arashi found himself running towards Konoha at full speed with Yugito beside him both upset that she had to leave her family but excited that she could have a life not filled with fear. All because of one person. They were suddenly surrounded by four ANBU "Senju Arashi?" One of them asked.

"That's me...guess I need to explain why im four days late" he said sheepishly.

"Quite, come with us straight to the Hokage" another one said leading the way. Yugito moved a little closer to Arashi as they ran.

It took ten minutes to reach the office where they were lead straight in to see a frantic looking Kurenai with a slightly better faring Tsunade and Shizune. "Where the hell have you been?..and whose this?" Tsunade demanded looking at Yugito. Arashi could see suspicion in Kurenai's eyes as well and sighed before dropping into a seat. "Ok, its like this. Yugito is from Kumo but the Raikage wants to transfer her to Konoha...I have the paperwork here actually" he said pulling it from a pocket and passing it over to the man who skimmed through it. "He says there is a reason for this transfer and that you could explain" he said looking up to Yugito who nodded and sighed

"I'm the jinchuuriki of the Nibi. The villagers and ninja of Kumo hate me. The shinobi, on several occasions, have tried to rape me but they were all stopped...thankfully. I was sent to intercept a genin carrying rare herbs from Kiri to Konoha. That was Arashi obviously and he wanted to speak with the Raikage about my treatment. He suggested this transfer and I accepted so here I am" she explained briefly.

An hour later and they left the Hokage's office, Yugito sporting a Konoha hitae, and walked down the street a little. "There's a spare house in the Senju estate Yugito. You can stay there" Tsunade told the woman who blinked twice "oh, I really couldn't intrude" she tried. Tsunade gave her a stern look "its not intruding...and I wasn't really giving you a choice" she added. Arashi leaned closer to Yugito "its better to just agree with her" he whispered. Tsunade heard and smirked a little as Yugito nodded "arigato" she said bowing her head. Tsunade waved her off

"Shizune, can you show Yugito to the estate?" The woman nodded and lead Yugito off. "Arashi, you have twenty minutes. You're behind on your hospital work" Tsunade told him before leaving as well. Kurenai breathed out slowly "for a minute there, when you came in with Yugito, I was a little worried" she admitted. He smiled and took her hand. She smiled back happy that they could do that in public now. "There's no one else for me Kurenai" he assured her. She smiled some more before smirking slightly "the Mizukage?" She asked. He rolled his eyes

"about that...did you perhaps think I wouldn't have problems about 'being shared' with another woman?" He asked sternly. She looked a little sheepish

"I did think you'd have a small problem with it but she explained to me how she felt...I thought it was needed. Are you angry with me?" She asked nervously. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair "truthfully?" She nodded "I wanted my first time to be with you when we were both ready for it" he told her. She blushed but looked down at the ground

"gomenasai" she said quietly.

"Hey, I didn't say I was angry with you Kurenai but maybe you could talk to me about such things first?" He suggested. She nodded and kissed him lightly

"arigato" she whispered pulling away. He smiled at her before sighing a little

"oka-san is right. I have a lot of work to do and not a great deal of time to do it in. I probably won't make training today, maybe not tomorrow either, but I'll try" he assured her. She nodded and smiled "Hinata has been training very hard Arashi and she still won't tell us what she's working on" she told him. He chuckled and gave the woman another kiss before heading to the hospital. Kurenai smiled a little before leaving for the training grounds.

* * *

The next few weeks passed without problems. Yugito had been placed as an assistant instructor to the current genin teams and was very good at it. Hinata's taijutsu style was improving in leaps and bounds. So much so that she could use it in full on combat effectively but still needed to master it. All the teams went on several C-rank missions, with Arashi going on most of them, and his own training with Naruto was improving them both steadily.

However it was now one of the rare days that teams seven, eight and ten all had off and found the ten of them, even Sasuke who had mellowed out a little after realising that he needed the others to be strong, sat around a long table in a barbecue restaurant. Arashi had gotten to know each of them quite well being shifted around the different teams so often. Normally the group having dinner together was not a problem, not until Ino pulled out an empty bottle and put it down on the table sideways. "Ino...aren't you a little old for spin the bottle?" Shikamaru asked sounding his usual bored self. Ino smirked "you're never too old...besides, this is a great way to get to know your team mates. Kurenai-sensei was the one who suggested this to me" she informed them. The promise of knowing team mates better, and thus increasing team work, appealed to a few of them so they reluctantly agreed. All of them for that matter which was surprising as Arashi was certain that Shino and Sasuke at least would say no. Ino smiled and span it around. Unknown to most of them their jounin instructors were sat in the next booth listening in. Arashi was the one who knew they were there. Naruto hadn't bothered checking since they were only eating. The bottle landed on the blonde haired shinobi and Ino smirked "truth or dare Naruto?" She asked.

"Truth" he said unconcerned.

"Who do you have a crush on?" Was the question. Naruto blinked several times before shrugging

"Yugito-sensei" he said without hesitation. In the next booth Yugito blushed slightly and the others smirked at her, with the exception of Gai who decided it was time for a 'youthful five hundred laps around Konoha' and left.

The game went on for some time before finally landing on Arashi. Kiba grinned widely being the one who span it. "Truth" Arashi said dismissively before being asked. The Inuzuka grinned even more "ok, have you had sex and if so who with?" He asked. Sakura blushed but strangely Ino and Hinata looked interested. The guys of the group also looked intrigued which was a surprise to him. Arashi finished his drink "this is a stupid game" he muttered.

"Quit stalling" Sasuke called over smirking at him. He had been subjected to a similar question. Rolling his eyes again Arashi said "hai, I have" but didn't elaborate.

"Who?..Kurenai-sensei perhaps?" Ino suggested with a smirk. In the next booth Kurenai blushed a little as the other jounin eyed her with smirks. "Nope" Arashi replied. That got some confused expressions "then...who?" What made that question doubly surprising was that it was interested and it came from Shikamaru. Arashi sighed to himself "the Mizukage" he said tonelessly. Eyes widened in both booths. "The Mizukage?..but, we didn't meet her until after you started going out with Kurenai-sensei...are you cheating on her?" Hinata asked suspiciously. He held his hands up

"not at all. She knows about it" he assured them. The jounin raised eyebrows towards a brick red Kurenai who nodded once. Kakashi chuckled a little behind his mask. "I almost expected you to say Yugito-sensei" Shino pointed out. Yugito blushed.

"Yugito? Well, no offence to her but she's not my type...that reminds me, can anyone tell me where I can find a giant sized scratching post?" He asked. Yugito's eye twitched and she let out a low growl that Arashi heard and smirked at. "Or a really big ball of string" he added thoughtfully. Naruto smirked with him. Yugito's eyes narrowed as the other jounin stifled their laughter. The genin just looked confused "does she have a cat?" Chouji asked. Arashi smirked

"something like that" he said. Ino smiled

"you could always get one of those weird mice things on a string. Our cat used to love that" she suggested. Arashi nodded slowly "that could work" he said.

"Ok, that's it!" Came Yugito's voice as she marched around the separating wall at him. He waved

"hi Yugito-sensei. Weren't eavesdropping were you with the other jounin?" He asked. She paused in her tracks and looked around at the other genin, several of which were now crimson facedhaving admitted to liking their jounin instructors. There was a chuckle and Kakashi leaned around the wall to wave at them "hi, how long have you known?" He asked.

"When did you sit down?" Was Arashi's reply. Kakashi eye smiled before spying four empty seats

"mind if we join you? I think Kurenai has some embarrassing questions to ask" he said. Arashi nodded "its ok by me...guys? And girls?" he added. They nodded and the jounin moved around. Naruto moved up to let Kurenai sit next to Arashi. Sasuke apparently couldn't help himself "Kurenai-sensei, are you really not bothered by what Arashi said about the Mizukage?" He questioned. She shook her head "no, I knew about it the whole time" she assured them. Before they could start again Shizune and Tsunade appeared with Jiraiya. The three spied them "oh? Having a party or something?" Jiraiya asked with a grin.

"Something apparently Jiraiya" Arashi replied indicating the bottle.

"Oh...fun" Shizune said moving forwards. Tsunade and Jiraiya nodded before the slug princess gave Arashi a look. He rolled his eyes and made a ram seal creating three more chairs for them to join the group at the end of the table. "Have we missed much important?" Shizune asked with a grin as Tonton oinked from her arms.

After the three had been filled in on all the embarrassing details the game started again. Arashi was somewhat surprised that his oka-san didn't raise hell about Mei but realised that she must have understood the problem to begin with. It only took a minute to land back on Arashi and Sasuke, who had spun it, grinned before asking "how was it?" Arashi blinked twice before looking down at the now half full glass he was holding. "Don't even think it" Kiba said knowing what was going to be said. "You know what I meant" Sasuke told him. Arashi rolled his eyes

"the lot of you are perverted" he muttered. "Im sat at a table with my oka-san and girlfriend and you want me to say how sex with Mei was?" He asked incredulously.

"Hai hai" was the chanted response. Tsunade smirked at him as Shizune giggled behind her hand. He sighed "it was..." he started quietly. Everyone leaned forwards eagerly "...none of your business" he said with a smirk. Yugito clapped him on the back of the head

"that's not an answer. Come on, you've already admitted to the embarrassing part" she said smirking. He rolled his eyes "fine, it was four hours of sweaty fun" he muttered blushing a little. Kurenai blushed also as the others laughed and smirked at him.

It was ten minutes later when Shino had his turn and it landed on Jiraiya. This was the only serious question asked that night after the man said truth "Jiraiya-sama. After yourself and Tsunade-sama, who would you say is the strongest at this table?" He questioned. The genin, and jounin, fell silent expecting the man to say Kakashi. Jiraiya looked thoughtful for a moment "honestly?" Shino nodded "Arashi" he said. People span around to look at the unconcerned looking genin

"but...what about Kakashi-sensei? Or Shizune?" Ino asked confused. Jiraiya smiled

"no offence to either of them but Arashi would beat them...hell, I'd think twice about fighting all out against him. I know Tsunade would as well" he added. The woman nodded her agreement. Yugito raised an eyebrow "actually, saying that I wouldn't want to either. I tried to fight him when I first met him and got my butt whooped. It felt like getting hit by a mountain" she said rubbing her forearms. Jiraiya chuckled "correct me if im wrong Arashi but you have never fought all out have you?" Arashi glanced around at the others before shaking his head

"no, not really. The closest i've come is my spars against Naruto but I still have to pull my punches a little" he said. Naruto nodded

"and arigato for that" he added with a smirk. Kakashi then shuddered a little

"can you imagine if Gai heard this? He'd challenge Arashi to a fight on the spot" he said. Jiraiya nodded "and I'd laugh my ass off when Gai was beaten". Shino raised an eyebrow

"out of curiosity but who would you rank after Arashi?"

"Naruto, without a question...and if you're curious still after that I believe Kakashi, Asuma, Yugito then Kurenai and Shizune" he forestalled the obvious next questions. The genin looked between Arashi and Naruto with even more respect then normal. Jiraiya grinned and span the bottle which landed on Hinata "truth" she said. He smirked

"what is it you've been working on with Arashi all this time?" She smiled sweetly

"I think I'll call it a night there. Goodnight everyone" she said standing. Jiraiya pouted having attempted to find out for several weeks but always being discovered. "Night Hinata" was chorused. Tsunade smiled "keeping some secrets huh Arashi?" She asked. He smirked

"hai hai" he replied simply. Kurenai leaned closer to Naruto and whispered something to him making him blush a little and his eyes darted to Yugito then away again. Arashi smirked again "im going to call it a night as well" he said standing after Kurenai kissed him goodbye.

The start of the next day was quite entertaining in Arashi's eyes as when he arrived at the training spot he saw Naruto there talking with Yugito who was assisting Kurenai today. Moments later however she pounced forwards kissing him and tackling him to the floor at the same time. Snorting a little Arashi rolled his eyes and turned to the other three. Hinata was smiling, Kiba was smirking and Shino...well no one could really tell but Arashi would bet anything that the Aburame was amused. "Ok Hinata. Lets go" he said to the Hyūga who nodded. Kiba pouted

"you're really not going to tell us what you've been doing?" He asked. Arashi smirked

"that would ruin the surprise Kiba" was the answer as the two walked off to the private, and hidden, training spot. As they went Yugito stood up and smoothed her hair down leaving a thoroughly dazed Naruto twitching on the ground with a huge grin. "Shut up" she muttered playfully seeing Arashi smirk at her. "Down Kitty" he teased. She growled at him but smirked a little as well as she went to start training with Shino and Kiba. Naruto was still out of it on the floor so they just let him be, the teasing later however Arashi was not going to miss.

The pair finished their training with Hinata out of breath but smiling widely. Deciding it best to rest for a few minutes Arashi sat leaning against a tree and Hinata did the same next to him. "Arigato for this Arashi-kun" she said gratefully. He smiled

"not a problem Hinata" he replied before "are you going to tell him?" Even without seeing her he could see the massive blush she was now sporting "tell who what?" She tried. He smiled

"Kiba, that you like him. He likes you too you know. He's always talking about you and how much you've changed since the academy. I think it'll boost your confidence. Talk to him about it" he told her. She nodded slowly "I'll try". It was then Kakashi appeared via shunshin in front of them. Flashing a peace sign he said "the Hokage has a C-rank mission for team nine" he said to Arashi who nodded and stood "hai hai, you good Hinata?" She nodded

"hai, I'll tell Kurenai-sensei" she assured him. He nodded and both he and Kakashi shunshined away. Hinata let out a content sigh before getting to her feet and heading back to the training grounds.

Upon arriving she saw that Kiba was training hard as usual. Smiling to herself she moved over to their instructors side "Arashi-kun is going on a mission with team nine" she told the woman who nodded "arigato Hinata. Hows your training going?" She asked. The Hyūga smiled broadly

"very well. Arashi-kun is a very good teacher" she said brightly. Yugito sidled over to them

"seems like it" she said idly. Hinata nodded then smirked very slightly

"did you enjoy yourself this morning Yugito-sensei?" The Nibi jinchuuriki grinned at her and nodded. "I think Naruto is still dazed" she said. Kurenai smiled as well.

Arashi arrived in the Hokage's office feeling a little irritated. Most of team nine was fine but Neji was a complete jackass. The Hyūga in question glared at him as he entered before saying "Hokage-sama. Why does he always accompany us on C-rank missions? He's a rookie genin" he said to the old man who nodded slowly. "Hai, in rank only Neji. He's the only med-nin in your age group. Plus you'll be going to Kirigakure and he is a close personal friend of the Mizukage" he added with a tiny smirk. Tenten looked around at Arashi interested "you are?" He nodded

"hai" was all he said not elaborating. "What is the mission anyway?" He asked looking back to the Hokage. "There has been reports of a large band of bandits near Kirigakure. They are still recovering from the bloodline wars so their ninja count is lacking" he explained. Arashi nodded and shuddered slightly "bloodline war...what a waste" he muttered. The Hokage raised an eyebrow at that reaction so Arashi explained briefly "oka-san, Shizune-nee-chan and I helped out a few times during the war patching up the injured" he said.

"You would have been only six or seven though" Iruka said slowly. Arashi nodded

"my first time actually healing anyone. Good thing I have such a good teacher" he said with a smile. The Hokage nodded and passed the scroll over to Gai who said "one hour to get your things ready for a two week mission at the longest". The team, and Arashi, nodded before leaving.

They regrouped an hour later. Each of them had a bag of some sort. Arashi's had several more compartments as well as slots for more scrolls then the others as he was carrying medical supplies as well. Neji scowled at him but said nothing as Gai arrived "lets go!" He said "full speed!" He added taking off in a dust cloud. Tenten slumped slightly as Lee ran off after him. Neji's eye twitched. "You know...I think I would go nuts if they were my team mates" Arashi commented idly as the three set off as well, at a much more moderate pace so Tenten could keep up. Frankly Gai's speed wouldn't have been hard to match for Arashi but decided against it. "Why do you hold back so much?" Tenten asked as they travelled. Neji raised an eyebrow as Arashi shrugged

"no real reason. Its just fun to see Neji believe he's stronger then I am" he said with a smirk towards the Hyūga whose eyes narrowed at him. "What do you mean?" He demanded. Arashi rolled his eyes "do you really think I could be trained by two of the Sannin and not be stronger then genin? I'll put it this way. The only person on your team that would give me a challenge to beat is Gai-sensei" he said bluntly. Neji scoffed but said nothing as Gai and Lee dropped back.

It took them a day and a half to reach Kirigakure where Arashi was not surprised to see Mei waiting for them. She however seemed surprised to see him "Arashi? Have the teams been switched around?" She asked curiously as they landed. He shook his head

"no, im the only med-nin in my age group so I get placed on the teams doing the hardest mission at the time" he explained.

"Oh, well that does make sense" she agreed. He nodded before looking her over. She smirked a little "no injuries this time Arashi" she assured him. He nodded once

"good" he replied. She lead the team into the village.

"We are sure that the bandit camp is thirty miles to the south east. They number around a hundred. We have ninja who can help but I don't wish to put them at risk against those numbers which is why I requested help" she explained to Gai who nodded. Then he gave her a thumbs up with a huge grin

"no worries Mizukage-sama. My youthful team and I shall see it done!" He said loudly. She blinked several times before glancing at a sweat dropping Arashi "just don't ask Mei" he said after a moment. She nodded slowly with a raised eyebrow at Gai. "Anyway" she started "Chojuro will show you to the camp later tonight" she said as they entered the tower.

"How is Chojuro anyway?" Arashi asked.

"Quite good. He continues to tease me however about your last visit" she said with a slight blush. He rolled his eyes and they went into her office. The swordsman in question was stood there as usual and smirked at Arashi as he entered. "Hello again Chojuro" he greeted.

"Hi...new team?" He asked glancing around. Arashi shook his head

"no, just different team. Their jounin instructor Maito Gai" he introduced the man who gave another thumbs up "Hyūga Neji, Rock Lee and Tenten" he finished. Each of them gave some kind of respect to the man. "Chojuro" Mei started "can you show the team to the hotel room reserved for them?" She asked. He nodded yet as he moved forwards Mei said "Arashi? Do you have some time to talk?" She asked. Chojuro smirked a little as Arashi smiled

"sure, I'll catch up later" he said to the team who nodded and left. Mei wasted no time in kissing him before leading the way to the bedroom.

It was almost two hours later when Arashi walked into the hotel room. Tenten looked around from her place on the floor as she checked her weapons. "That took a while. What did you talk about?" She asked curiously as he took out his scrolls to check his supplies. The table in the living room was free for just that purpose as he didn't want to put his supplies on the floor for obvious reasons. "Nothing in particular" he replied casually. He was also very glad he showered at the Kage tower with Mei. "I did get a little information about the bandits though" he added. The others focused in on the conversation as well. "It seems that they have at least minimal training. They can use chakra to a small degree" he told them "Mei also believes there may be a more experienced ninja leading them but they haven't had any proof of such yet" he added. Gai nodded

"suggestions?" He asked. They knew he already had a plan but it was for their own experience.

"We should let Neji scout it out first to find numbers and he should be able to tell if there is an experienced ninja among them" Lee said. Arashi shook his head

"no" they turned to him.

"What do you mean?" Neji demanded.

"They have watch towers around the camp at a distance of a hundred meters from the walls and fifty meters apart from each other. There is a low level barrier between them covering the whole camp. It would distort your vision and we wouldn't be able to get a detailed review" he said. Gai nodded slowly "what do you think then?" Arashi was silent for a moment

"I can send a Moku Bunshin. The camp is made of wood so he'll be able to blend in. He'll look around before returning which will give us a better understanding of what we're dealing with" he said seriously. Gai nodded "good, do it" he said in an uncharacteristically serious tone. Arashi nodded and created the clone. After being told the location it sped off at top speed. Then Arashi turned to the team and held out his hand "swallow one of these each" he said. They looked to see four, pale beige, seeds. Tenten picked one up "what are they?" She asked.

"In case we get separated for any reason I'll be able to track you if you have one of those. Plus, if you get injured you'll be able to channel a little chakra into them which will tell me and I'll get to you as quickly as I can" he told them. They nodded and Neji, Lee and Gai took the remaining seeds swallowing them.

It was another two hours when Chojuro arrived. "Are you ready?" He asked seriously. They nodded and got their things before heading out. Arashi ran beside Chojuro. "Are we capturing or killing?" He asked. Chojuro gave him a serious expression.

"Capturing won't do anything. We need to take them out" he replied. Arashi nodded and they fell silent again.

About halfway to the camp they regrouped with Arashi's Moku Bunshin who fell into step beside the real Arashi. He placed a hand on its back dispelling it and gaining its knowledge. It took a moment for him to sort through it all. "Ok, their numbers have almost doubled from Mei's estimate and there is indeed a ninja leading them. Nothing too strong however. A chuunin at the most. There's a weak spot of their barrier that we can slip through. The guards in the towers are changed once every two hours and the next change is in thirty minutes. They are expecting ninja to attack soon so they'll be on guard and looking for us" he reported to his team and Chojuro who nodded.

Arriving at the camp they hid themselves while Arashi lead the way to the weak spot of the barrier. He had an odd feeling about this and came to a stop. "What is it?" Gai asked quietly. He shook his head "I don't like this. Its too coincidental. There just happens to be a single section of a barrier this size that we can get through? No, they knew ninja were coming and bet on us being good enough to see that. Its a trap and the moment we go through we'll be attacked. However if we go through anywhere else we'll be detected instantly". Neji scoffed

"they're just bandits. No threat whatsoever" he muttered. Arashi rolled his eyes

"hai hai, they are just bandits but as already mentioned. They have some training and they number nearly two hundred. It would be foolish to think you could fight your way through them without injury." Gai nodded in agreement

"ideas?" He asked. Arashi had to admit. The guy was creepy but he knew how to train a team. Giving them a chance to plan their own methods then correcting them if needed. "I would suggest that you, Chojuro and myself enter the camp. Tenten, Lee and Neji should stay outside the barrier until we've caused enough trouble to create a good distraction. Then they can move in behind the bandits and we'll flank them that way" Arashi suggested. Gai raised an eyebrow

"why you? You're our med-nin. Surely that's reason enough to keep you out of the fight?" He asked. Arashi rolled his eyes "because, Gai-sensei, you, Chojuro and I are the best fighters here. Hai, im a med-nin but my combat skills are still superior then these three" Chojuro nodded in agreement so Gai conceded. "Ok, Neji. You're in charge until you get the signal. Then move in" he told the Hyūga who nodded "whats the signal?" He asked. Arashi smirked

"I'll send a messenger" he said. Neji raised an eyebrow but nodded and the three moved off.

It was seconds after they passed through the hole in the barrier when three dozen bandits jumped out at them with weapons. Neji, Lee and Tenten watched as they were taken down easily. They moved on into the camp when an alarm sounded. Lee made to go after them but Neji held his shoulder "wait" he told the teen who nodded once.

A good ten minutes later Tenten frowned "whats that?" She asked pointing to the sky. Neji and Lee looked up in time to see one of the bandits slam into the tree above them painfully. "Ouch...guess that's Arashi's messenger" Neji said with an amused smirk. Tenten and Lee nodded so the three sped off into the camp.

The scene they came across was utter destruction. Buildings and bodies lay battered and broken across the entire camp and the three were fighting ferociously in the centre of nearly eighty bandits. The three genin joined in from the back with Tenten taking the highest kill count almost straight away by unleashing a barrage of weapons into the crowd.

Fifteen minutes of solid battle later and the bandits were down. The three genin were breathing heavily having not fought for so long in one stretch before. Gai, Chojuro and Arashi however looked like they could go on for days. Tenten sighed to herself but came to a stop feeling a sharp blade on her throat. The others span around as she yelped. A single, bloodied, bandit was holding her with a tanto across her neck. "Unless you want me to take her head off I'll be leaving now" he said in a gruff voice starting to back up whilst dragging Tenten with him. Arashi's eyes narrowed and he discretely made a ram seal out of view of the bandit. A second later and wood vines shot up from the ground wrapping around the bandits arms, legs and throat forcing the knife away from Tenten who ducked away and span around as the vines snapped the bandits neck dropping him to the ground. "Never drop your guard in a place like this" Gai told Tenten who nodded once. Arashi checked the three genin over. A couple of bruises and scratches. Nothing that really needed any attention. "Ok, we need to check in case we missed any. Arashi, you go with Tenten. Lee, you're with me and Neji with Chojuro" Gai told them. They nodded and split up.

Minutes later they regrouped in the centre "no one left" Arashi said. The others had a similar report so they started back for Kirigakure at a slower speed then they came at as the genin, minus Arashi, were tired.

They soon arrived back at the Mizukage's office where she was apparently waiting for them. "Success?" She asked looking between them. Chojuro nodded and she smiled "arigato. They had raided several villages within the last few days alone" she said. Gai nodded and bowed respectfully

"if it is ok with you Mizukage-sama my team and I need some rest" Mei nodded

"of course, will you be staying at the hotel Arashi or here?" She asked. Gai and his team glanced towards Arashi questioningly as he said "I'll stay here" Mei nodded and smiled as Gai left with his team. Chojuro rolled his eyes "goodnight Mizukage-sama, Arashi" he said before leaving as well. Mei smiled again and the two went to bed.

The next morning found team nine by the gates ready to leave when Mei and Arashi turned up a few minutes later. "Please thank the Hokage for sending help so timely for me" she said to Gai who nodded respectfully "team nine, move out!" He said brightly whilst heading off. Arashi rolled his eyes and Mei gave him a parting kiss before he left to catch up with the others.

Once he did Tenten couldn't help herself "just how close are you with the Mizukage?" She asked. The others seemed just as interested. He shrugged "we're pretty close" he said absently. Neji smirked at him "figuratively or physically?" He questioned.

Arashi rolled his eyes "both...do we have to talk about it?" He asked as Tenten blushed a little. Lee looked thoroughly confused but didn't ask.

Upon their return to Konoha Arashi was given three days off from all duties for which he was grateful for. He had a heavy work load at the best of times and the days off would let him get a few things done. Of course, that was just before the Hokage told him that the chuunin exams would start in four days so he was given a rest for that. "Gee, arigato" he had said sarcastically.

**Well, a little more back story on Arashi in this one. A couple of people have asked when the wizarding world will make an appearance. It will but at first it will be a fleeting visit. I'll build on it from there.**

**Another point I'd like to make is about Arashi's age and the relationship he has with Mei and Kurenai. They were brought up in a society that trains people to be killers from a very young age. Some of them making their first kill before ten, such as Kakashi and Itachi who graduated before ten. That same society obviously believes them mature enough to handle that so is it really so odd that they would grow up quicker in other areas? **

**Final point. I know people might complain about the mission in this chapter but Konoha is just like any other Hidden Village and sometimes they are expected to kill large numbers like that. I've never subscribed to the idea that Konoha is the 'nice' village full of trained killers. That makes no sense what so ever. **

**Other then that I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review :)  
**


	7. Chapter 7

He had just left the Hokage's office, and the tower, dropping off his reports of the last mission before deciding to get some ramen from the Ichiraku stand. It was getting late so he planned to turn in after that but he had missed out on getting something earlier. Any plans he had though were interrupted when Kurenai dropped down from the roofs next to him. "Enjoying your days off?" She asked with a smile. He rolled his eyes "fantastic, my first day off in almost three months and I spent it doing paperwork" he muttered. She laughed lightly before slipping her hand into his as they walked.

"Sounds about right. You need a proper holiday. You can take a week off, fully, if you've been on duty for more then two months straight" she told him.

"Really? Wonder why I hadn't been told that" he said dryly.

She smiled again then looked a little nervous. "Have you eaten yet?" She asked. He shook his head "do you want to go to mine?" She asked.

He raised an eyebrow before smiling"sure" he replied. She smiled and lead the way.

Upon reaching her apartment Arashi raised his eyebrow again. She had obviously been planning this as he saw a table set up nearby with the works. Candles, nice plates and cutlery, even a bottle of sake being warmed slightly.

A couple of hours later, and after a fantastic meal which was actually a surprise. Kurenai had never shown an interest in cooking before but she obviously had a talent for it. At the beginning she was quite nervous but then she had some sake and calmed down a little. Arashi had a thoroughly enjoyable time frankly and now the two were sat on Kurenai's couch with a bottle of normal red wine on the table with a glass each. At first Arashi had been a little worried about the alcohol but he then remembered who his oka-san was. He was no stranger to sake any more, she had been adamant that he build up a resistance to alcohol for some reason. Kurenai bit her lip a little before taking a sip of her wine and putting the glass down while nervously taking Arashi's as well also putting it down. She got to her feet and pulled Arashi up to kiss her. When they pulled away she smiled a little more and pulled Arashi into her bedroom closing the door behind them.

Tsunade walked into the kitchen with a yawn to see that Shizune, Naruto and Jiraiya were already there with tea. "Morning Tsunade" Naruto said with a wave. She nodded and sat down taking her own tea. "Where's Arashi?" She asked looking around. He was always up before her and always in the kitchen before anyone else. She took some tea then raised an eyebrow. The reason he was always in the kitchen first was because he made the best tea and this wasn't nearly as good. "We thought you'd know" Shizune said looking a little worried.

"No, hang on" Tsunade got up again and left the room.

She returned a minute later frowning some more "he's not here" she said. That worried her even more as he always left a note if he was going out early. "Did he leave a note?" She asked just in case. Jiraiya shook his head "no, when was the last anyone saw him?" He asked.

"He was just going into the Hokage tower to give his reports" Shizune told them "that was last night, about nine" she added. Naruto pinged his chakra three times and waited, the others had felt them and waited with him.

After several minutes of nothing they all got up "ok, we'll have to go look for him. Shizune, go and tell Kurenai. She might have seen him somewhere. Naruto, Hinata's Byakugan would be a lot of use. Im going to get Kiba and Jiraiya, you go get Shino" Tsunade said quickly. They nodded and headed off.

The group met up again outside the apartment complex Kurenai lived in with the three genin. Shizune dropped down as well a moment later "she's not at the training grounds so she must be home" she told them. Tsunade nodded and headed up with the others in tow.

Once she reached Kurenai's door she knocked in an urgent tone. There was silence for a minute before "one minute" was called through. A minute later and there was a click as the lock disengaged and Jiraiya passed out from the shooting nose bleed he got. Kurenai was stood in the door way with a red, silk, dressing gown that only reached halfway down her thighs and had obviously been thrown on in a hurry as the front revealed quite a lot of cleavage. Her hair was ruffled and she had a slight flustered look to her. "Hai?" She asked adjusting her dressing gown to cover herself a little better.

"Have you seen Arashi? He wasn't home last night and we're a little worried" Tsunade said.

"Um" Kurenai started. Jiraiya got to his feet shaking his head and plugging his nose up. "Pervert" Kurenai muttered.

"I'll smack him later for it" Tsunade said dismissively. It was then Kiba frowned, which Shino noticed "what is it Kiba?" He asked. Everyone turned to him as he took another sniff. Kurenai grimaced slightly.

"I can smell Arashi" he told them.

"Where?" Tsunade asked quickly. Kurenai started to slowly close the door while everyone was looking at Kiba and almost got it fully closed when he said "in there". She grimaced again as they turned to the mostly closed door. "Kurenai" Tsunade said in a flat tone.

"Hai?" Kurenai asked peeking around the door.

"Is my son in your apartment?"

"Um...hai" Kurenai replied quietly.

"Why is my son in your apartment?" The Sannin asked bluntly. Shino decided to leave then as there was no reason for him to be there. Hinata was blushing so left as well and Jiraiya decided to avoid being smacked around by Tsunade so disappeared to the women's onsen. Naruto had no intention of missing out on teasing material so stuck around and Kiba was there for the same reason. Shizune was there as she was essentially family. Tsunade crossed her arms waiting for an answer. "Um" Kurenai said again. There was a blessed interruption in the form of Anko appearing in the hallway in a swirl of leaves and looking around confused. "What's going on?" She asked.

"Nothing" Kurenai said quickly.

"Except for Arashi being in Kurenai-sensei's apartment and that he didn't come home last night" Naruto said with a grin that Anko shared

"oh really?" She asked turning to look at Kurenai who, even though they could now only see a sliver of her face, was crimson. Then she looked to her side before leaving. The group heard a door close inside her apartment. The front door opened fully to reveal a stern faced Arashi wearing only his trousers and had his arms crossed. "Hai?" He asked.

"What were you doing?" Tsunade started.

"I don't believe it's any of your business oka-san" he cut her off bluntly.

"I think otherwise. You're my son" she retorted

"hai, your son who, by ninja laws, is a legal adult since becoming a genin. You know damn well I am plenty old enough, and mature enough, to make decisions about my life without someone butting in" he told her.

"You couldn't have even left a note or something?" Tsunade asked knowing the tone he was using was his, don't mess with me, tone.

"Uh huh, I'll learn how to write a message across the village just as soon as it becomes physically possible" he replied sarcastically. She rolled her eyes

"fine, at least tell me you're being safe" she said with a stern look to her eyes. He answered with a flat expression. "Ok, that was a fairly stupid question" Tsunade admitted.

"Hai, it was...can you go away now?" He asked. Tsunade rolled her eyes again

"hai hai, we're going" she said heading away with Shizune, Naruto and Kiba. Anko smirked at him

"that means you as well" he told her. She pouted

"what? You're not going to let little old..."

"...no" Arashi interrupted. She pouted again before smirking

"that's ok, tell Kure-chan I'll see her later at the cafe if she's going" Arashi nodded and closed the door as she shunshined away.

Sighing to himself after closing the door he rolled his eyes and went back to Kurenai's bedroom where she was sat on the bed, having abandoned her dressing gown, with the covers over her and a heavy blush on her face. "That, was mortifying" she said as he climbed into bed next to her. She leant on his shoulder as he put an arm around hers.

"Don't worry. I can handle my oka-san any day" he assured her.

She nodded once before "so, when are you going to tell her that you're moving in?" She asked.

He chuckled "I'll tell her when I get a few of my things later. You're sure about this?"

She nodded "hai" she said adamantly. He smiled and gave her shoulders a squeeze making her smile a little more.

"Wonder if this is going to cause problems during training Nai-chan" he said.

She blinked several times and tilted her head to look up at him from his shoulder "Nai-chan?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. He nodded

"well, Anko calls you Kure-chan so I figured I could have my own" he said with a smirk. She smiled

"I love it" she said happily.

"I thought you might" he said with a chuckle. Kurenai had given the team the days off until the chuunin exam as well just so they could stay relaxed and not tense as they would be during training.

"We don't have to go anywhere for a while right?" She asked after a moment.

"Not as far as I know" he replied smirking a little.

Three hours later the two walked into the cafe that Kurenai's friends were usually found in when not at missions. Sure enough though Hana, Yugao and Anko were there and Anko, apparently, had told them as the three smirked at them as they entered. The couple sat down without a word. "Something you want to tell us?" Hana asked taking a deep breath.

"Im not sure what you mean" Kurenai said smiling.

"Sure you don't" Yugao replied grinning at her. Arashi rolled his eyes and stood

"im going to go get a few things" he said. Kurenai nodded and kissed him before he made to leave "later Nai-chan" he said with a wave. She turned to her friends and blinked several times seeing each of them staring at her. "What?" she asked.

"Nai-chan? I thought you hated that name" Hana said. Kurenai shrugged

"its different when he uses it" she said simply. Anko smirked

"our Kurenai has fallen hard and fast girls" she said. Hana and Yugao nodded as Kurenai blushed but smiled back. "So?" Anko asked with a lewd grin. Kurenai raised an eyebrow

"so what?" She asked confused.

"How was he?" Hana clarified. Kurenai rolled her eyes

"you're all perverts" she muttered.

"Hai hai, so?" Anko dismissed with a wave. Kurenai looked between them

"you really want to know?" she asked. They nodded when Yugao asked

"it was your first time wasn't it?" Kurenai blushed a little but nodded.

"It was..." she started then paused thoughtfully as the three leaned forwards eagerly "fantastic" the genjutsu mistress settled on after a moment.

Arashi arrived in the Senju estate and went up to his room. He got his medical supplies, all of which were in scrolls until he needed them, and his stocks of kunai and senbon, also in scrolls. He packed his clothes in a separate scroll and took the photo's that he had of his family. There was a certain one of Naruto with Jiraiya on top of Gamabunta's head. The first time Naruto had summoned the great toad. Arashi would've signed the slug summoning contract if it weren't for the fact only one summoner could at any one time. Katsuya was surprisingly strict on that. He had yet to tell anyone, but Naruto, that he had found the fox summoning contract a few months before coming to Konoha. He had been training in secret and was ready to summon the boss. Of course this had lead to the Kyūbi telling Naruto that it was the summoning boss for the foxes. Arashi was hesitant to summon it any where near Konoha for an obvious reason which is why he hadn't yet. Shaking his head he packed his scrolls into his back pack and checked around before looking out the door and nodding. He went to the wall behind the headboard of his bed. There was a small seal there which he released. A large chest of money appeared in a poof of smoke which he promptly sealed into a last scroll putting it into his pocket. Both his oka-san and Jiraiya had tried to find his stock of money but failed miserably.

After that he headed downstairs to find his oka-san in the living room reading. She looked up and raised an eyebrow at the backpack. "I thought you were on stand down until the chuunin exams" she said. He smiled "I am, kinda moving out" he said. She blinked several times

"wait, what?" She asked standing.

"Im moving in with Nai-chan" he told her. She looked him over seriously before smiling and hugging him resulting in him turning slightly blue when she let him go.

"Oh stop playing around" she chided with a smirk as he gasped.

"Wait" he said after a moment "you don't mind that im leaving but you did when you thought Nai-chan and I had slept together? How does that make any sense?" He asked confused. She shrugged and smirked again

"it was fun to mess with Kurenai" she said absently.

He rolled his eyes at the woman "now I know you're just mean. I better get going" he said with a wave as he left.

"Bye Arashi...you'd better visit" she called back making him roll his eyes again as he walked out.

Halfway back to Kurenai's, and now his as well, apartment though he was approached by an ANBU. "Senju Arashi. You are to report to the Hokage immediately" he said seriously. Arashi rolled his eyes and shunshined away.

He appeared in the Hokage's office and immediately raised an eyebrow. The man was sat at his desk with a scroll but there was also the heads of the Aburame, Inuzuka and Hyūga clans. Shibi, Tsume and Hiashi respectively. He hadn't met them outside of this time but he had heard that Tsume was a trouble maker among the council. "What, exactly, is going on?" The young Senju questioned looking around. Tsume smirked while Shibi and Hiashi kept their normal, stoic, expressions. "Well, the council has decided to allow you to take the jounin exam that starts in four days in Kirigakure" the Hokage told him. He blinked several times "jounin? Why?" He asked shrewdly "and more to the point, why only me and not Naruto who I am only a little stronger than?" he added. Then he understood "ah, this wouldn't have anything to do with me being a Senju and Naruto being the Kyūbi's jinchuuriki does it?" He asked knowingly.

Tsume smirked again "I shouldn't be surprised that you know about that. Unfortunately it seems that most of the council would prefer not to give Naruto any advantages" she added with a tiny scowl.

"That's just stupid" he said bluntly. The Hokage chuckled

"be that as it may, your skills as a med-nin played a very important part in the councils decision" he explained.

"Ah" Arashi said in reply. Then he shrugged "what, exactly, do these jounin exams include?" He asked.

"We aren't allowed to say. Ninja have to be adaptable to all situations" Hiashi told him calmly.

"Hai, but no good ninja goes anywhere without some information" Arashi countered.

The Hokage smiled "true. All we are allowed to tell you is that the exam will take six weeks to complete. You are to go to Kirigakure immediately and await the start of the exams there" he told him. Arashi nodded then rolled his eyes a little "good thing im already packed" he muttered to himself.

The Hokage raised an eyebrow "why are you packed?" He asked curiously.

"I was moving in with Kurenai but obviously that's going to be a little delayed now" he said before Tsume said

"I'll tell her where you've gone. You should head out for Kirigakure" she told him. He nodded and bowed before shunshining away.

A few minutes later and Tsume walked into the cafe where Kurenai, Hana, Anko and Yugao were still talking with grins. "Oka-san?" Hana asked confused as the woman sat down.

"Hey Hana...teasing Kurenai are you?" She asked with a smirk as Kurenai pouted. "Anyway, Arashi just told us that he was moving in today" she said to Kurenai who raised an eyebrow

"was?" She asked.

"Hai, he's just left for Kirigakure. He's been entered into the jounin exams" Tsume explained with a grin.

Kurenai blinked several times "really?" She asked.

"Hai. He'll be away from Konoha for the six and a half weeks" Tsume told her. Kurenai nodded and smiled but Anko pouted

"he's going to come back higher ranked then me...maybe it'll be fun to work under him" she said with a smirk aimed towards Kurenai who rolled her eyes

"you leave my Arashi alone" she said firmly.

"Oh? Your Arashi?" Yugao teased. Kurenai smiled at them and Hana smirked

"I think his Nai-chan is getting protective" she said in an overly sweet tone.

Tsume blinked twice and raised an eyebrow "Nai-chan? How...cute" she teased as well.

Kurenai blushed and crossed her arms with a playful huff "you're all being mean to me" she whined.

The two days travelling was not terribly eventful and Arashi reached Kirigakure not even tired as he walked in through the gates. The chuunin approached him. "Reason for visit?" He asked.

"Jounin exams" Arashi replied. The man blinked several times and stared at him

"really?" He asked surprised.

"Hai"

"ok then, all examinees have a pass to be given to them, come with me" he said heading to the guard house with Arashi in tow. The chuunin sorted through them "name?"

"Senju Arashi" he nodded

"here we are" he pulled out a pass with a neck strap and gave it to him. "Report to the Mizukage and get your instructions" he said. Arashi nodded

"arigato" he said politely while turning to go to the Mizukage's tower.

Once he arrived he was told to go up by the secretary so he went on and knocked on the door "hai?" Came Mei's voice. He opened the door and went inside with a tiny smirk. "Ah, welcome back Arashi" she said with a smile as he shut the door.

"Hai, good to see you again Mei" he said. She nodded and smiled

"business first though this time. The exam will take six weeks to complete during which you, and the other hopefuls, will be tested on stealth, tracking, evading capture, combat skills and resourcefulness. There will be no forewarning of any tests. You will be gathered from wherever you are and taken to the test site. There is no set time for any test. You could finish one and instantly be taken to another. This is the only chance you have to back out if you want to" she paused in which he gave her a flat expression "I didn't think you would" she said with a smirk "I can't show you any favouritism during these exams but I can offer you the guest room here to stay in. I should warn you. In the chuunin exams killing is tolerated but not preferred. Killing an opponent in the jounin exams happens quite often. Do not go easy on any of the other examinees because they won't do so for you" she told him seriously.

"Hai, I understand" he assured her. She nodded

"good, well. That's the business sorted and the exam period doesn't start for another two days so you have time to rest and relax." She said. He smiled and nodded

"hai" he said with a wave as he left that she returned.

It was a few hours later when the door to the guest room opened. Arashi looked around from the desk where he was studying a Mokuton jutsu called Mokuton: Jubaku Eisō. It was a jutsu that caused a tree to grow up and around an opponent trapping them where he could either crush them or leave them to be captured. He looked around from the scroll and saw Mei closing the door behind her and smiling. "The last jounin hopeful just came in so I can finally get some rest" she said heading to the bed while stripping off. He blinked several times before shrugging and going back to his scroll. He had a feeling the jutsu was going to be quite useful in this exam. He vaguely hoped that the evading capture test will take place in a forest as he could just send a Moku Bunshin for them to chase while he merged with a tree. Because of his Kekkai Genkai he could survive as long as he needed within a tree, it had to be alive and rooted though. The tracking wouldn't be too difficult either, just like the stealth. His Mokuton was well suited for that, plus he was already very good at it. Overall he was quite confident that he'd make jounin. "Out of curiosity Mei, will you be staying here for the duration of my stay?" He asked looking back around at her. She was now under the covers and reading. "Hai, if you don't mind?" She asked. He shook his head

"no problem, I just have the strange idea its going to be a shock to whoever comes to fetch me for the tests" he said with a smirk that she shared.

"Possibly" she agreed. He chuckled a little before going to bed as well where she cuddled closer to him as they put the lights out and went to sleep.

The two days before the exam started were relatively peaceful for Arashi. For the first time he had no paperwork to do for the hospital or mission reports. This made Mei jealous as she always had paperwork to do. She had also made him her personal med-nin while he was in Kirigakure as she trusted him. He had met a couple of the jounin hopefuls, which included another Konoha nin called Izumo and the chuunin that had tried to grope Yugito on Arashi's first, and only, visit to Kumogakure.

He was in a bar talking with Izumo, as the other Konoha nin, about some random things three days after arriving. "So, how confident are you?" Arashi asked across the table. Izumo smiled

"fairly, what about you? I don't think there's ever been a genin in the jounin exams before. Most of them go through chuunin first" he said. Arashi shrugged

"some how I think its got to do with my family and Kekkai Genkai" he said with an eye roll. Izumo chuckled before a Kiri ANBU appeared beside them.

"Senju Arashi?" He asked.

"Hai?"

"Come with me for your tracking test" he said. Arashi nodded

"good luck" Izumo said as the Senju stood.

"Arigato, see you later I imagine" he said with a wave as he left. Izumo nodded and smirked a little watching the ANBU heading out with Arashi.

Arashi was lead to the edge of a large forest that made him smirk mentally. Waiting there was Mei, Chojuro and someone who looked to be an elder of the village. "Ah, there you are" Mei said as he neared.

"Hey" he greeted with a wave.

"The ANBU you've been assigned to track has been in the forest for an hour. You have only this to track him with" she held up a small piece of blue fabric. Arashi raised an eyebrow before shrugging

"any limits I should know about?" He asked. She shook her head

"no, anything goes...just try not to kill him" she added.

He nodded before biting his thumb and making a few seals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He called hitting the ground. There was a large poof of white smoke that soon cleared to reveal a very large fox, five foot at the shoulder, with dark tan fur and eight swaying tails tipped in black. The Kiri group blinked several times in shock. "Hai?" It asked in a gravelly voice.

Arashi took the piece of fabric from Mei "we're tracking someone. Can you get a scent from this Jergan?" He asked holding it up. The large fox sniffed it a few times before grinning like only a fox knew how. Baring his teeth. "Hai, no problems" he said. Arashi smirked and jumped onto the foxes back. He made a few more hand seals before he, and Jergan, spoke in unison "Kitsune Genjutsu: Perfect stealth" they incanted before shimmering out of view completely. Mei blinked several times "huh, I was not expecting that" she said to the others who nodded.

They waited for his return and only an hour and a half later did they reappear but with the ANBU trapped in one of Jergan's long tails. More shock among the Kiri ninja. "I think that was the fastest time anyone has completed this test" Mei said impressed. Arashi grinned and hopped down from Jergan who put the ANBU down before leaving in a poof of smoke. "I have never heard of someone using a fox in summoning" Mei said absently.

"Hai, Jergan is a better tracker then any nin-dog. Kitsune excel in genjutsu but combat is not so good...except for one" he added with a slight smirk.

"Very well. You're dismissed for now" Mei told him carrying her own, tiny, smirk. He nodded and shunshined away.

Out of curiosity he headed back to the bar he had been in and sure enough Izumo was still there so he sat down again shocking the chuunin. "That was quick" he commented. Arashi smirked

"hai hai, going to need more then an ANBU in a forest to fool me" he said with a grin as Izumo chuckled.

"Well, I guess my good luck wasn't really needed then" he returned. Arashi shrugged

"maybe, but appreciated" he said. Izumo nodded and they went back to talking about random things.

It was nine days later before Arashi was fetched for his next test, while in bed with Mei. That had caused the ANBU to stutter several times as she glared at him and Arashi was certain he had never seen anyone move as fast as the man did after telling Arashi he was needed for his evading capture test. "That was mean Mei" Arashi said with a chuckle as she smirked.

"Hai, but fun. You should get going" she said kissing him as he got out of the bed and dressed.

A few minutes later he walked out into the hall to find the ANBU probably still blushing under his mask. "It might be worth knocking next time" Arashi said absently as he followed the man.

"Hai" was the reply but that was all that was said.

He found himself by the boundaries of the forest again with the elder and a team of ANBU behind her. "This test will last for twenty four hours. You have a twenty minute head start before these ANBU enter to track you down" the man said. Arashi nodded and headed into the forest quickly.

He ran for ten minutes to get deep enough into the forest to start his plan. He created a Moku Bunshin and sent him off to the east while he himself just phased into one of the large oak trees ready to wait for the rest of the twenty four hours. He loved his Kekkai Genkai some times.

An hour later Arashi watched from his tree as the four ANBU dropped into the clearing in front of him and looked around. "He was here" one of them said.

"Hai. Ok, you're with me and we'll check south and east. You go north and west. Meet back here in twelve hours if we haven't found him. If that happens we'll make a new plan" the obvious leader said. The others nodded and Arashi smirked mentally as they split up having not noticed him there. He decided he might as well get a little sleep.

He was woken a few hours later when he felt his Moku Bunshin dispelled. To make sure the ANBU didn't figure out he could do anything with trees the Bunshin had used a smoke bomb just as he was dispelled to make it look like he was a Kage Bunshin. That was fun. He simply made another Moku Bunshin from the tree and sent it west this time.

When the ANBU returned he listened in "report" the commander said.

"We found a Kage Bunshin but he dispelled himself after seeing us"

"Same here. What direction?"

"West"

"ours was in the east. Anything in the north?"

"No"

"nothing in the south either. We must have missed him somewhere along the way. We'll split up again. One in each direction. You take south, you east, you north and I'll take west. Work in a clockwise rotation to cover the whole forest. No one has stayed hidden for the whole twenty four hours and I'll be damned if some genin does it" the commander said firmly again not seeing the oddly smirking pattern on a nearby tree. They split up again and Arashi chuckled mentally.

Arashi waited another thirteen hours before coming out of the tree and heading back to the border smirking a little as he reached the boundaries to see Mei with the four ANBU, Chojuro and the elder again. "How did you evade the ANBU?" Mei asked intrigued. He shrugged

"the joy of Mokuton. I camped out in one of the trees sending Bunshin out periodically to draw them away" he said with a grin. Mei looked quite impressed but instead of sending him back the elder said

"in the Mizukage's tower is a scroll with the Konoha symbol. You will now infiltrate the tower without being seen and bring the scroll here for your stealth test. You will fail the test if you are spotted, heard or detected in any way" he said. Arashi nodded and left via shunshin.

He appeared down the street in the shadows looking towards the tower carefully considering. Of course, they had not taken into account his foxes. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu" he whispered after drawing blood and making the seals. A very small fox, about cat size, appeared on his shoulder with black fur and two, silver tipped, tails. The foxes only had the one collaboration jutsu but it was exceptionally powerful and all foxes could use it once Arashi had learnt it. "Kitsune Genjutsu: Perfect Stealth" they whispered together shimmering out of sight again. Arashi smirked and moved off rapidly.

He entered the tower via the guest room window which he had opened the day before as it was quite warm. Inside the room was an ANBU and Arashi guessed there would be one in every room. He knocked the ANBU out and hid his body before heading out into the corridor and towards Mei's office. Inside were three ANBU. One facing the window, one in front of the desk and another watching the open door. Not that it would do him any good. Even a Byakugan couldn't see through Kitsune Genjutsu. Arashi slipped in soundlessly and looked around for the scroll. It was behind the ANBU in front of the desk. Arashi looked between the ANBU and noted that none of them were watching the scroll. Probably to give him a slim chance, he took it and smirked as the moment he picked it off the desk it too fell under the genjutsu and became invisible. He darted out of the door then back out through the guest room window finally shunshining back to Mei and the group. He cancelled the genjutsu and banished Ami, the fox, before walking out of the darkness towards the group while casually tossing the scroll from one hand to the other. "Easy" he said giving it to the elder who stared at it in shock.

"Just how many of our records are you planning to break Arashi?" Mei asked amused.

"Depends, how many have I now?" He asked.

"three" she informed him. He chuckled

"well, how many tests have I got left?" He questioned.

"Two" she told him.

"Ah, well I would guess at two then" he said with a smirk as she rolled her eyes.

"That'll be all for now" the elder said. Arashi nodded and left with Mei and Chojuro.

The ANBU at the tower were more then surprised to hear that not only had he gotten past them but he had done so, and got out, in just a few minutes. Arashi was fairly certain he dented their pride a little but that just made him smirk a little. After that he and Mei went to bed where she congratulated him on two jobs well done very vigorously.

The next day found Arashi and Izumo walking through the village exploring some more "how have your tests been so far?" Arashi asked the chuunin who shrugged

"ok, I don't really think im going to pass but I thought I'd give it a go. I've got tracking and stealth tests left to do" he replied "what about you?" He inquired. Arashi shrugged as well

"pretty well. Mei tells me i've broken three records so far" he said. Izumo raised an eyebrow

"how many tests have you had?"

"Three" was the smirking reply.

"You beat three records on all three tests? What were they?" Izumo asked wide eyed.

"Stealth, tracking and evading capture" Arashi told him "what did you have to do in the combat test?" He asked.

"Ah, I had to fight one of the other jounin hopefuls. That also included the resourcefulness test as well as the fight lasted two days with no supplies except standard ninja equipment" he explained. Arashi nodded "makes sense...though, there's thirty days left to this test and i've got all of two tests left. If you're right and they run the combat test and resourcefulness test into one then im going to have a lot of free time on my hands" he said with a smirk. Izumo returned the smirk

"not as though that'll be a problem according to what i've heard" he teased.

Arashi raised an eyebrow "and that is?"

Izumo smirked again "that you and the Mizukage were getting more then a little close in the Mizukage towers guest room" he said. Arashi nodded

"well, I am staying there. As for how close Mei and I are getting...well, I really don't think its my place to say" he said with a smirk as Izumo chuckled.

**Ok, I know a couple of you were wondering how I was going to do the Chuunin exams but I put this in instead for a reason. Arashi got prejudice as a Senju over a Jinchuuriki which is why Naruto wasn't sent. I'm just calling it as I see it. As for the Kitsune Genjutsu. It isn't some ridiculously powerful genjutsu that he can use to attack anyone without a worry. He has to stay in direct contact with the fox he's collaborating with and he can not touch anyone physically or the genjutsu fails. He can't attack like it as moving too fast would disturb it and disrupt the genjutsu. It is entirely for sneaking around undetected as he used it. As for the evading capture test. If Yamato can hide from the people he's following by being inside a tree, and he himself admits his use of Mokuton is no where near the Shodaime's level, then surely it makes sense that Arashi can do so fairly easily. **

**Please R&R :)**

**Next time, a little of Arashi's history and his motivation for working as hard as he does. What is it? Well, you'll have to wait to find out :)  
**


	8. Chapter 8

Arashi's theory was quite right as he spent twenty three more days doing nothing but the occasional training in a secret place or reading a few scrolls. The plus side was that he mastered a few other Mokuton jutsu in that time though which could be useful. Plus, Mei had been doing a fair amount to alleviate any boredom he had. The problem with that was he began to feel a little guilty about it. He knew that Kurenai had given her permission but he was about to move in when he was sent to Kirigakure for the exams and now he was practically living with Mei. He knew he was being a little silly about it but it niggled at him.

Finally though, eight days before the end of the test, he was approached by an ANBU while having a drink with Izumo and told "Senju Arashi. Please follow me to your combat and resourcefulness tests".

Arashi grinned and stood "about damn time" he said with a chuckle "later Izumo" he said with a wave to the man as he followed the ANBU out.

He was lead to a large clearing with a different forest then the one used for tracking and evading capture tests. To his amusement he saw the Kumogakure chuunin there as well and smirked mentally. The man snorted "I have to fight a genin?" He asked incredulously.

Mei rolled her eyes "hai, a genin that has beaten every record in this test so far" she said smirking slightly. Arashi smiled dangerously at the chuunin. The man just rolled his eyes "and here I thought I might have a challenge" he said confidently. Arashi just smirked as the two moved to the centre of the clearing.

"Just out of curiosity. What happens should I beat him in a short time? What about the resourcefulness test?" He called to Mei.

"If that happens you'll be camping out in that forest with nothing but one kunai" she told him. He nodded "hai hai, easy enough" he said turning back to the chuunin.

A minute later and the elder that had been watching Arashi's other exams arrived and told them to begin. The chuunin instantly rushed forwards drawing a kunai. Arashi just put his hands in his pockets casually dodging the strikes. "You know, for what you did to Yugito im going to hurt you" he said absently. The chuunin scowled "so you're the one who got her transferred. You ruined my plan with that you know. She was going to be mine" he ground out angrily.

Arashi smiled "and now, instead of hurting you, im going to kill you" he tensed his right hand a little and a visible blue chakra enveloped it. The chuunin didn't notice this and Arashi ducked under a sweeping attack only to grab at the mans chest. He came to a sudden stop knowing something was wrong as he winced "what did you do?" He asked cringing a little.

Arashi smirked "im using a jutsu called Chakura no Mesu. Its a medical jutsu. Right now the scalpel is passing through your heart and lungs. If I move my hand even an inch it'll shred your organs and you'll die, painfully" he explained to the now sweating chuunin.

"You wouldn't would you?" He asked hurriedly.

"Gomenasai but I said I would. If you are ever granted another chance at life maybe you'll learn to respect women" he said before twisting his hand and pushing slightly so the man stumbled back before dropping to his knees spewing up a lot of blood with a pained grunt. He slumped forwards and was still so Arashi went back to Mei. "You had a history with him?" She asked curiously.

"Somewhat" he said absently. Mei nodded once before holding her hand out

"I need your equipment, except for one kunai" she told him. He nodded and passed her his pouch and kunai holster, except for one which he started spinning on one finger. "Now, you'll have to spend two days in the forest with no help from anyone. There will be ANBU patrolling the borders as well" she added. He nodded

"hai hai, see you in a couple" he said heading towards the forest casually. She smirked a little and called for an ANBU team to patrol the forest.

Upon finding a clearing Arashi looked around before nodding and smirking to himself while going through some hand seals "Mokuton: Shichūka no Jutsu" he spoke calmly. A rumbling sound echoed through the clearing before a single floored house grew from the ground. "I love Mokuton" he said to himself while going inside. It was quite simple. One room with a place in the centre for a fire which, thanks to knowing no Katon jutsu, he needed to make the old fashioned away by rubbing two sticks together.

After getting a fire started, and creating enough fire wood to last, he decided to get something to eat and headed outside where he soon found a rabbit. Shrugging he killed it with the kunai and went back to his temporary 'camp' to prepare it.

The two days passed swiftly and he was laying back with his hands behind his head relaxing when there was a knock on his door. "Come in!" He called over. It opened to admit the elder, ANBU and a widely smirking Mei. He leant up on his elbows. "Welcome, pull up a seat" he said gesturing to the several wooden chairs he had made for just this reason. "Well...definitely resourceful" the elder said looking around impressed. Arashi smirked and got to his feet as Mei said "I think Arashi has just broken all the records with this" in an absent way.

The elder nodded "hai, that'll be all Arashi-san. There are still six days left before we can finally decide upon the promotions" he said.

Arashi nodded "fair enough, shall I get rid of this place or..?" He asked.

"This forest is always used for the resourcefulness test and having a house here would be a problem. Take it down if you would" he nodded and they went outside. He made a one handed ram seal and the house rescinded back into the ground. "I put your equipment in your room" Mei told him as they travelled back.

The last six days were just for relaxing for him. Izumo finished his testing three days after Arashi did so they hit the bar. Being an official genin at least made Arashi an adult in the ninja world. Izumo got them both some drinks and they sat at a table in the corner. "Well, at least the testing is over" the man said with a grin.

"Hai, how do you think you did?"

"Me? I probably failed but im not bothered by it. Chuunin is fine for me. I just took this because Kotetsu dared me to" he said with a chuckle that Arashi shared. "What about you?" He asked. Arashi shrugged "I broke all the records but that doesn't mean anything. They might think im too young to be a jounin" he reasoned. Izumo rolled his eyes

"I doubt that. There have been younger jounin...I think" he added scratching his head before shrugging "probably" he ended with a smirk.

Arashi laughed a little "arigato for your vote of confidence" he returned.

Izumo smirked some more before asking "I heard a rumour back in Konoha not so long ago...did you really help in the blood line wars?" He asked quietly.

Arashi nodded "hai, I was still training to be a med-nin at the time. My oka-san, Shizune-nee-chan and myself helped heal the wounded" he admitted with a slight sigh "that was the first time I actually saw people dying. At six to see a full, rudimentary, hospital full of injured ninja was something that caused me nightmares for a year. My oka-san was adamant that it was the best place to start though. I lost my first patient during that war. All ninja remember their first kill but I remember her as though it just happened" he said sadly. Izumo stayed quiet just listening. "She wasn't even a ninja. Just a girl in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Yondaime Mizukage's men thought it would be fun to 'have some fun' with her. Four days she was kept as a toy for them then she was found by Mei's side. She had been left to die with a stab wound to her abdomen. She didn't cry, she didn't scream. I tried to heal her but she wouldn't let me near her. She told me that she wanted to die so that she didn't have to remember what had happened to her. Before she died she gave me this" he indicated to his locket and held it "she asked me to find her oka-san and tell her that she was sorry" he closed his eyes "I stayed with her until she died. I held her hand until it fell limp. Even then I stayed by her side for nearly a day before going out to find her oka-san" he said heavily. "I found her easily. She was one of the kunoichi for the Yondaime Mizukage who had captured the girl. I passed on the message and the woman just laughed. She willingly gave her daughter to those monsters" he ended in barely a whisper as he clenched the locket in his hand. "She was my first kill" he muttered angrily. "At the time I barely knew what I was doing. By the time someone stopped me there was nothing recognisable of the woman. It was my oka-san who stopped me. She had heard what the woman had said and let me continue until I was actually hurting myself. That was actually the first time I met Mei but it was only in passing. She was the guard for the prisoners that day. I think it was her that opened the cell" he said opening his eyes again and sighing before letting the locket go tucking it under his shirt. Then he looked Izumo in the eye "only three people know of what happened that day" he said.

Izumo shook his head "I won't tell anyone. Its not my place" he assured the Senju who nodded.

"Arigato. I already live through it every night I don't need others to remind me" he said bluntly. Izumo nodded once seriously. "What was her name?" He asked.

"Ayanami Suzuka" Arashi replied before standing "I'll be back later" he said distractedly to the man who nodded.

Arashi walked out into the streets with his hands in his jacket pockets and a saddened expression on his face as he walked through Kirigakure with a purpose. He ignored the happy sounding people talking around him focusing only on his destination.

It took several hours of searching but he found it. He was stood in a large field of graves looking down at one of the simple, stone, head stones that lay over the vertical graves. Her name covered in a little dirt that he crouched down and wiped away. The sunny day a complete opposite to his mood as he stayed crouched with his hand on the grave. "Gomenasai Suzuka" he muttered. Three wet spots appeared on the grey stone as he closed his eyes again.

He was in that position for an hour before he heard a familiar voice "Arashi?" From nearby. He opened his eyes "leave me alone" he replied. The person approached and crouched beside him placing her hand on his shoulder. "Arashi, it wasn't your fault" she said quietly.

"I know it wasn't my fault Mei but it damn well feels like it. Leave me alone" he snapped at her. She eyed him for a moment "gomenasai Arashi. If you ever want to talk I'll be there" she assured him standing and leaving quietly. He looked back down at the grave. "Gomenasai, I haven't visited before Suzuka. I could say that i've been busy but really, I think I was scared of coming here. I tried forgetting, i've tried running, i've tried accepting but nothing works. I want to move on but I can't. I know what your oka-san did was wrong and I know that she deserved what she got but I shouldn't have lost it. I let my temper get the better of me and not a day goes by that I don't wish I could go back and stop what happened." He said with more wet spots appearing on the grave stone. A hand gripped his shoulder "rain's getting worse" Izumo said looking up at the clear blue sky. Arashi let out a single, wet, chuckle. "Arigato Izumo. I know im being stupid but this actually helps" he said quietly while standing with a final look at the grave and saying "I'll visit again Suzuka". He left with Izumo.

That night, when he got back to the guest room a little drunk, he sat down at the desk and ran a hand through his hair moments before Mei came in as well looking a little worried. "Gomenasai for snapping at you earlier Mei" he said wearily.

"Its ok Arashi. I know how hard it must be. I think she'd..." she was cut off.

"Just don't Mei. No one knows what Suzuka would've wanted so don't even try" he told her firmly. She nodded once "ok Arashi" she agreed quietly.

His last few days in Kiri he spent by Suzuka's grave most of the day just silent. He would occasionally talk about his life to her. Izumo moved over to him "Arashi. We need to go to the Mizukage's office to hear the results of the exam" he said quietly. Arashi nodded before raising his right hand in a one handed ram seal. Izumo looked down in time to see several flowers grow up around the grave stone and smiled a little as he and Arashi left without another word.

They walked into the office and Mei immediately noticed Arashi's expression. He looked around at the five other jounin hopefuls already there. He and Izumo stood beside them and Mei smiled at them. "You've all proven yourself excellent ninja" she started "unfortunately we have lost three of the applicants" she added "the elders have conferred with myself and the ANBU. We believe you have all done a sterling job but only one of you has been promoted to jounin. The elders, ANBU and my own opinions were unanimous in this decision for his work. Not only did he break all the records in the tests but he helped during the bloodline war despite being only a trainee med-nin" she told the seven. "Senju Arashi, please step forwards" she said in an official tone. He did so and she smiled before passing him a sealed scroll. "Your updated license and jounin flak jacket are within this scroll. Congratulations" she said sincerely. He inclined his head respectfully and stepped back into line. "Please do not be disheartened" she said to the others "you should be proud of your achievements here" she ended smiling reassuringly. They bowed to her and started to file out "Arashi?" She called causing him to pause and look to Izumo.

"We'll head back to Konoha as soon as we're packed" he told the chuunin who nodded then smirked slightly "hai sir" he said. Arashi rolled his eyes but smirked as well as Izumo chuckled and left. Arashi turned back to Mei who smiled sadly at him. "Here" she said giving him a small envelope. He raised an eyebrow before opening it. It was his shinobi passport that had been taken weeks ago. "I added a permanent pass so you can visit her whenever you want to" she told him. He nodded gratefully "arigato Mei" he said sincerely before leaving.

In the guest room he changed out of his jacket and shirt pulling on a dark green, long sleeved, shirt with a high collar. After that he unsealed his sleeveless jounin flak jacket and looked at the back with a tiny smirk. Mei seemed to have taken the initiative and had the Senju clan symbol sown into the back. Chuckling a little he put it on and put his old jacket into a seal. He repacked his backpack with all the scrolls he had brought with him and left through the window.

He regrouped with Izumo by the southern gate and rolled his eyes as Izumo smirked at his jacket. "Lets go" Arashi said. Izumo nodded and they took to the trees.

The two days travel was spent talking about random things again. Izumo was quickly becoming a very good friend, especially after Arashi had told him what happened. They came to a normal walk just outside the gates. "It feels so much longer then six weeks" Izumo said glad to be back.

"Hai, who knows. Maybe I'll get to actually move in with Nai this time" Arashi joked earning a chuckle. "Hai, lets hope" Izumo returned as they passed the guard house. A chuunin with a bandage over his nose approached "hey Izumo. How did it go?" He asked excitedly before apparently remembering something "Arashi-san, Tsunade-sama wanted you to head to the hospital when you arrived" he said.

Arashi nodded "hai, later Izumo" he said leaving with a wave.

Arashi arrived at the hospital a few minutes later to find several med-nin running around quickly. He managed to catch one "whats going on?" He asked.

She blinked several times "oh! Tsunade-sama is waiting for you upstairs, second operation room" she said before hurrying off again. He rolled his eyes and moved upstairs quickly.

He entered the operation room in question and saw his oka-san giving several orders to nearby med-nin. "Will someone please tell me whats going on?" Arashi asked walking in. Tsunade looked around at him "ah, you're here. Kiba is in a bad way in the next room. I'll be working on Neji myself. He's in a critical condition. Chouji has been healed but I need you to check on him as soon as you've finished with Kiba. Shizune is with Chouji at the moment. After you've finished that go to the village centre and speak with Jiraiya" she said hurriedly. He blinked several times before leaving again and going next door.

He walked in to see Kiba laying on a bed holding the lower right side of his abdomen. Nearby was his one-san Hana with Akamaru. The younger Inuzuka looked to be in pain and there wasn't a med-nin in the room so Arashi moved over. "What happened?" He asked lifting the sheet to see what was obviously a deep stab wound. Kiba grunted "stabbed" he ground out through gritted teeth. Arashi nodded and went to work.

It took twenty minutes for him to finish healing the Inuzuka, to a level that wasn't dangerous any more anyway, so Arashi relaxed a little. "Ok Kiba. I trust im not going to have to restrain you this time?" He asked with a tiny smirk.

Kiba nodded "arigato" he said gratefully.

"No problem. There's a little more healing to be done but the worst is done" he assured the boy before going back to it. "So, what happened?" He asked Hana.

"The chuunin exams. We were invaded by Suna and Otogakure" she told him. His eyes widened but he didn't lose focus "that must've been weeks ago though" he reasoned thinking it through.

"Hai, we were just getting back on our feet when Sasuke deserted. Orochimaru got him with some strange seal and he went to get more power. Kiba went with Neji, Chouji and Shikamaru to get him. They were intercepted by some of Orochimaru's men" she explained.

Arashi's expression darkened "why did no one send me a message?" He demanded.

"We did but there's no contact allowed during the jounin exams" she explained. He growled mostly to himself "ok Kiba. You need to rest and you won't be allowed to leave this bed for a week" he said.

Kiba nodded and looked over at his sister "Akamaru?"

"He'll be fine" she assured him. Arashi left the room and headed to Chouji's.

Inside he saw a strange sight. Chouji was emaciated and pale. Shizune was working on a table that had obviously been brought in just for her. "What's the problem?" Arashi asked her. She looked around "he used the Akimichi pills trying to get Sasuke back. Tsunade-sama managed to halt the fatal effects but he's still dangerously ill." She explained.

He nodded but frowned "why am I needed then?" He asked.

"I can make the medicine needed but I need him to be restrained" Arashi nodded and moved over to the unconscious boy making a ram seal. Wooden bindings shot up from the floor pinning him tightly to the bed "arigato. Tsunade-sama will be busy with Neji for some time. There isn't any other urgent cases." He nodded and shunshined away.

He arrived in the village centre and saw Jiraiya in the centre. He seemed to be directing building crews. As Arashi looked around he saw that there were whole streets of buildings that had been destroyed. "Jiraiya?" He asked getting closer.

The Sannin looked around "ah, there you are. Need a little help with rebuilding" he said gesturing around. Arashi nodded and moved to a street on which all the houses had been destroyed but cleared. He made several hand seals "Mokuton: Tajuu Shichūka no Jutsu!" There was a loud rumbling before ten houses, on both sides of the street, erupted from the ground growing two stories. Arashi shook his head a little and Jiraiya chuckled "that'll make things easier" he said. Arashi rolled his eyes but moved to the next street.

He continued on for half an hour during which he created nearly a hundred houses. He was exhausted from using so much chakra and sat down heavily on a bench. "Good work Arashi" Jiraiya complimented clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Arigato...I need some rest though" he muttered. Jiraiya chuckled "sure thing, Kurenai's probably waiting for you" he said. Arashi smirked a little and nodded before taking off.

He walked through the village so it took him forty minutes to get to Kurenai's apartment from the centre. He knocked on the door "one moment" Kurenai's voice called before he heard the lock disengage and she opened the door. Her eyes widened "Arashi!" She called hugging him tightly.

"Agh! Hello Nai" he gasped. She laughed a little and let him go kissing him and shutting the door.

"When did you get back?" She asked leading the way to the living room where Yugao and Anko were sat. "Couple of hours ago" he told her "I would've come straight here but I was needed at the hospital" he said. She nodded and they sat down.

Anko smirked at him "about time...I don't know how much more pining we could've withstood" she teased. Kurenai stuck her tongue out at her before looking Arashi over "you passed?" She asked.

He nodded "hai, wasn't too hard. Broke all the records" he said with a smirk that she returned.

"Hows Mei?" She asked curiously.

"She's fine" he said with a smile.

She nodded then asked "do you still want to move in?" In a nervous tone.

"Why wouldn't I?" He replied. She grinned at him.

The conversation for the next few hours was primarily Arashi recounting his testing period, skipping over the Suzuka part. He didn't need Kurenai to worry about him for it either. He knew his oka-san would always worry and so would Mei but he didn't need it, or want it. He also intentionally missed the fox summoning as well. Didn't need questions about that just yet. There was a knock on the door and Kurenai went to answer "oh, Tsunade-sama. Please, come in" she said letting the blonde inside. "Arigato Kurenai" she said as the two came back into the living room.

"Hows Neji?" Arashi asked.

"He's fine. In recovery at the moment" she said sitting down next to Anko. "I see you got promoted" she said with a grin.

He nodded and sighed while looking down at the floor "I went to see Suzuka" he told her.

Instantly her own expression saddened"you ok?" She asked. Anko, Kurenai and Yugao looked between each other confused then turned back to Arashi as he reached up and held the locket he wore. "Hai, guess I just needed to visit" he said quietly.

"Um, whose Suzuka?" Kurenai asked confused. Arashi looked around at her for a moment and Tsunade stayed quiet. "Not now Kurenai...later" he said turning away again. She blinked several times but nodded slightly confused by his tone.

It was another couple of hours before the others decided to call it a night and headed home. Kurenai sat with Arashi as he held the locket again. "You know I helped in the bloodline wars?" He asked her. She nodded "the first person I went to heal..." he began to tell her what he had told Izumo but in greater detail. As he spoke his eyes got wet and Kurenai pulled him into a hug yet he felt glad for getting it off his chest.

A few hours later found the two silent with Arashi leaning against Kurenai's shoulder complete with tear tracks down his cheeks. "Arigato Arashi" Kurenai said after a moment.

"What for?" He asked glancing up.

"For trusting me with this. I know it can't be easy for you. Come on, you need some sleep" she said firmly while pulling him up. He nodded and they went to bed.

The next morning Arashi woke up and smiled finding himself in Kurenai's arms as she slept on his chest. She stirred with a slight moan and looked up at him with a smile. "Morning Arashi" she said quietly. "Morning Nai...I think that was the first night I haven't remember what happened" he said seriously. She smiled and hugged him a little. "Out of curiosity, what was with calling my oka-san -sama?" He asked.

She sighed "the Sandaime was killed during the invasion by Orochimaru. He managed to seal Orochimaru's arms away though. Tsunade-sama was chosen as the Godaime Hokage" she told him. He blinked several times "ah" was all he could say for the moment.

Twenty minutes later they were up, showered and dressed ready to go out and help again. Kurenai already knew where she would be going and set off kissing him and he shunshined to the Hokage's office.

Upon arriving he couldn't help but smirk slightly seeing his oka-san sat behind the desk with a veritable mountain of paperwork around her. "Not a word" she warned him seeing the smirk. "Now, I'll assume that you're here for an assignment" he nodded "first of all, I want you to make rounds at the hospital. After that I think that Jiraiya could use a little more help, that Mokuton jutsu was very helpful" she added proudly.

He nodded "hai, is Shizune-nee-chan at the hospital?"

"Hai, report to her first" Arashi nodded before shunshining away again.

He reappeared just outside the hospital and went inside to see Shizune looking quite tired by the reception talking to a med-nin. He went over to her "Shizune-nee-chan" he said getting her attention. She smiled wearily at him "there you are. The med-nin have been given their jobs for now. Neji needs checking on as does Kiba. I've set out a course of treatments for Chouji which is already being followed. Gomenasai but I need to get some sleep. I can't heal, or help, like this" she told him passing over a clipboard. He nodded "hai, go get some rest. I got this" he assured her looking through Neji's information. "Arigato" she said gratefully before leaving. He headed upstairs to check on Neji.

Upon arriving at his room he opened the door to find that Neji was with Lee, Tenten, Gai, Hinata and Hiashi. They looked around as he entered. "Arashi?" Hinata asked blinking several times.

"Hai, good to see you Hinata. How you doing Neji?" He asked the teen who was sitting up with a heavily bandaged torso. "Sore" was the answer. Arashi nodded and moved forwards to check him.

After a few minutes "looks like its healing fine, no surprise considering. How the hell did you get an injury like this anyway?" He asked sternly. Neji sighed

"I was fighting one of Orochimaru's sound four. He got me with an arrow but I took him out" he said with a proud tone. Arashi nodded slowly "ok then, gomenasai but I have other patients to check on" he said heading to the door after clipping the clipboard to the end of Neji's bed.

"That's fine...where have you been?" Neji asked suddenly.

"Jounin exams" Arashi replied heading out and closing the door on some shocked expressions.

The next check up was Kiba who was also sat up in bed but he had Hana, Tsume and Shino visiting. Akamaru was laid down on the next bed looking healthy at least. "Hey Kiba. Just need to check you" he said heading over. Kiba nodded and Arashi looked the mostly healed wound over. There was only so much healing a med-nin could do before having to leave it to the bodies natural abilities. The Senju sighed and looked Kiba in the eye. "Ok, I want you to lay down and stay laid down. Just sitting up is putting strain on this and too much will reopen it. Im sure you don't want that" he said. Kiba nodded and gingerly laid down with a little help from Hana. "Otherwise its healing well" Arashi ended. He was about to get to the door when he heard Tsume behind him.

"Arigato. I heard that you're the one that healed Kiba" she said.

"Hai, its no problem...just try not catching kunai with your body" he said to Kiba who smirked a little. Tsume nodded and smirked as well "jounin huh?" She asked. He chuckled and nodded before leaving.

In the next room he was unsurprised to find Ino, Shikamaru, Asuma and Chouji's tou-san Choza. Arashi looked Chouji's clipboard over and nodded before putting it back and looking up at the thin looking boy. "Arashi, can't I have something to eat?" He asked.

"Nope, has to go in increments im afraid or you'll just throw up" Arashi told him. He slumped slightly but nodded. Arashi then noted what Shikamaru was wearing "congratulations Shikamaru" he said sincerely.

The Nara nodded before raising an eyebrow "you went to the jounin exams?" He asked. Ino and Chouji blinked a few times as Arashi scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Hai hai" he confirmed.

Asuma smirked "Yugito and Kakashi owe me money" he said with a chuckle.

Arashi rolled his eyes "i've got to go check on some other patients" he said.

"Arashi. Hows Kiba and Neji?" Ino asked hurriedly.

He smiled over his shoulder "they'll be fine. It was a close call for Neji but he's just lucky my oka-san was around. I'll check up again later" he said mostly to Chouji who nodded as the Senju left to continue his rounds.

He was at the hospital for another seven hours before Shizune returned looking fully awake and refreshed. He passed over the clipboard he had and told her the important things. Then he left to find Jiraiya.

Once again the toad Sannin was in the centre of the village but there was far less going on. Arashi had rebuilt almost a third of the destroyed houses himself the previous day. "Ah, there you are" Jiraiya said with a grin. "Hang on" he said before calling for an ANBU who was wearing a cat mask but was male. "As it turns out there is a second Mokuton user in the village. Between the two of you I think we should have Konoha back up and running in no time" the ANBU nodded and bowed slightly in silence before going to an empty street and using the same jutsu Arashi had the day before. However he created only five on each side and looked thoroughly exhausted by only that which caused Arashi to raise an eyebrow before shrugging and going to his own street.

By the end of his fourth street the surprise that the ANBU was giving off was almost palpable. Arashi was bent double with his hands on his knee's after creating eighty of the houses. Shaking his head he moved to the last street of the day and used the jutsu once more before leaning against a house and sighing. "Ok Arashi. That'll do. Take the day off from rebuilding tomorrow. Why don't you head home now" Jiraiya said with a smile.

"Arigato" Arashi replied before setting off at a walking pace towards Kurenai's, and his, flat.

This continued for the next week. Shizune would take the night shift at the hospital and he would take the day before going to help Jiraiya on alternating days. He didn't think it'd take too long for his paperwork to get back to normal levels after he got back from the jounin exams. Kurenai had been very understanding. She had enough as it was being a jounin so the added extra of being the on call med-nin every day was something ridiculous. Although, if she did have any plans for them to be intimate in any way they were sort of stunted by Anko, Yugao and Hana who seemed to have made her apartment their meeting place instead of the cafe.

It was now Arashi's first day off. Kiba had been released from the hospital with the sole proviso he take it easy for the next two weeks. Something that Tsume was going to make sure happened. Neji was healing well but needed to stay for another week, in Arashi's opinion anyway which was generally accepted. He had noticed that Neji had changed drastically since he last spoke with him. He wasn't arrogant or cold to people any more. The Senju was currently sat in the apartment with Yugao, Anko and Hana talking with him and each other when he saw the time. Kurenai would be home soon. "Ok, not to be mean you three but out" he said with a smile. "Nai and I have had no time together since I came back" he explained. Anko smirked with the others and they left with a wave.

Kurenai came back looking tired so he directed her to a chair and promptly gave her a shoulder rub which she seemed to enjoy quite a lot. "You were right" she said with a content sigh "you do have magic hands" she recalled with a smile as he chuckled.

"So i've been told" he returned also smiling. She smiled a little more before getting up and leading him into the bedroom.

The next morning found the two in their usual places when they woke up. Kurenai using Arashi's chest as a pillow and he had an arm around her shoulders. She stirred a few moments after he did and said quietly "thank Kami its my day off today...too tired to do anything" she complained. He chuckled "Unfortunately its not my day off, I need to go" he said reluctantly. She pouted but nodded again.

Half an hour later he arrived in the Hokage's office to find Tsume and Anko there as well. Raising an eyebrow towards Anko she shrugged and Tsunade sighed. "I have a mission for you three" she started. Now Arashi was interested. What mission would take those three? Four if Kuromaru was to be included. "Its from an outside country" Tsunade went on. Arashi frowned a little, outside countries weren't supposed to know of the hidden continent. "There is something attacking school students in a place called Hogwarts. The head master wants someone to take care of it. He believes it to be something called a basilisk, which according to him is a large serpent capable of killing with a stare. Personally I think the old geezer is off his rocker but better safe then sorry. Its hiding somewhere inside the castle" she explained.

Tsume nodded slowly "I was wondering why you'd need us three...actually, I still don't understand. I can track it, Anko's a snake expert but what about Arashi?" She asked.

Tsunade gave her a flat expression "do you speak English?" She asked. Tsume shook her head and Tsunade looked to Anko who also denied. "Well then, that is why you need Arashi. Other then myself and Shizune he's the only one in the village who speaks English. Simple enough. Normally I would've turned this mission down but he's paying the equivalent of an S-rank mission. Right now we need all the income we can get" she said with a slight sigh. The three nodded "when do we leave?" Anko asked.

"As soon as possible. The client, Dumbledore Albus, will meet you at a place called Kings Cross in London. You know the way right Arashi?" She directed. He nodded having been there during his years travelling with the two Sannin. "You have two hours to get your things and head out" she told them. They nodded and left again.

Arashi walked into the apartment to see Kurenai talking with Hana and Yugao. The genjutsu mistress looked around at him with a questioning expression. "Got a mission that'll take a little while. Going to the outside countries" he explained. She nodded once "oh, and Hana?" He added turning to her from the door of the bedroom. "Tsume and Anko are going as well...make sure Kiba doesn't do anything stupid" he said making her smirk and nod before bidding her friends goodbye and leaving.

He gathered his things, and extras just in case it was a long mission, and headed back out of the bedroom. He leant over the back of the couch to give Kurenai a kiss, which Yugao smirked at, and then he left with a wave.

He found Tsume, Kuromaru and Anko by the western gate waiting for him so he joined them and Anko promptly smirked "are we going, sir?" She asked grinning. Tsume smirked as well and Arashi rolled his eyes amused but smiled "hai hai, lets go" he said taking off with the three in tow.

**So, a little back history of Arashi there. I know some parts, talking to the gravestone, may be a little cliche but I think they work well. The magical world now makes an appearance. Like I've mentioned before this will only be a fleeting visit but it will develop from this. Again, the medical and healing? I still don't know anything about it and just made some stuff up. I also realise that the timeline might be a little skewed for Sasuke's defection but that's because I haven't seen the original series of Naruto for quite some time and I couldn't remember how much time actually passes. **

**Now I made Arashi's first visit to Hogwarts involve the basilisk for a reason that should be seen in the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. R&R please and thank you for reading. :)  
**


	9. Note

**Finally! I apologise for not updating but a few days after I put the last chapter up my PC went completely bonkers and I've only recently been able to get a new one, or at least one capable of writing and updating. **

**Unfortunately this means I've lost the few more chapters I already had written up. **

**I've recently read through the chapters I've put up and I've been thinking of rewriting it so it flows better and so I can actually put in a little more history. Your opinion on that idea would be very welcome. If not, then I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can. :)**


	10. AN

I'm sorry for the long wait but the HDD that this story was on got trashed and I lost motivation for a while. Then I went back and looked over the story and noted a number of things that I could have done better and I rather lost where I was going with it.

Firstly I realised that Arashi and Kurenai wasn't the best pairing, I had to take a full thirteen years off her age and she was still six years older. Thinking it through a little better I think I should have made it a Arashi and Hana story instead. I think I could have had fun with the interaction with Tsume.

Secondly was the fact that I was going purely on memory of the anime and not once referred to the manga as I should have done. A good point of this, and was mentioned in a review, was when I said in an AN about Elder Chiyo thinking, in the anime, that Sakura had surpassed Tsunade as a kunoichi in the fight against Sasori.

Thirdly was that I made both Arashi and Naruto rather overpowered, and even said that they were probably stronger than Gai and Kakashi. Thinking about it I should have clarified that I meant in terms of just strength, not taking experience into consideration.

And lastly was the fact that the latter chapters were rather rushed and didn't make much sense, to me at least.

I know a lot of you would prefer that I carried on but I'm going to have to discontinue Senju Arashi, though I'd love to see someone else try this kind of crossover. I started it after getting bored with the numerous, similar, stories that take up Harry Potter/ Naruto crossovers.

I've had a couple of ideas that I may end up trying though, but perhaps someone can write a better story on the same idea so, by all means, please try the following challenges if you want.

Bad treatment at the hands of the Dursleys causes Harry's magic to apparate him, accidental of course, to Mount Myoboku where he lives with, and is trained by, Fukasaku and Shima. Pairing would, preferably, be a Harry with a Naruto character.

Sirius retrieves Harry before Hagrid does but takes him to the home of an old girlfriend, Inuzuka Tsume. (He's a dog animagus so it made a little sense.) Tsume takes him in and raises him as an Inuzuka.

Lily is actually sister to Kushina but was sent away due to malformed chakra coils, adopted by the Evans family. She uses a portkey to send Harry to Konoha as Voldemort attacks. Harry grows up in the orphanage, not knowing about his relation to Naruto.


End file.
